The New York Rangers busted open a close 1-1 game midway through the third period by scoring four consecutive goals, and went on to defeat the Carolina Hurricanes, 5 -1 on Friday night. It was the fourth straight loss for the Canes and the sixth consecutive win for the Rangers.
This was not the first time the Hurricanes had a third period meltdown as the team has allowed more goals against them in the third period than any other team in the NHL.
The Rangers started off the scoring at 9:43 into the game when Sean Avery picked up a loose puck near the blue line, skated in alone, and went top shelf against Cam Ward for his first goal of the season.
The Canes were able to tie things up near the end of the second when Zach Boychuk chipped a puck to Alexei Ponikarovsky, who then beat Henrik Lundqvist five-hole.
The third period was pretty evenly played until the Rangers broke through in a big way with two goals in just nine seconds, (10:47 and 10:56), and then two more later in the period.
Carolina will travel home to face Pittsburgh at the RBC Saturday night.
Game Notes:
- The Canes were outshot 40-35 overall and allowed 17 shots in the third period and 15 in the second. Our intern totaled scoring chances at 18-13, Rangers.
- Eric Staal, Tomas Kaberle, and Tuomo Ruutu were tied with a team high four shots each.
- The team won 53% of their faceoffs. (Staal 43% Sutter 72% Jokinen 50% Brent 44%)
- Patrick Dwyer had a team high five hits. The Canes totaled 18 for the game.
Post game interviews: