Talbot Stonewalls Hurricanes in Shootout

GREGG FORWERCK/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES

The Rangers were 13 games from the end of the season and game 1 on Saturday evening in Carolina was anything but easy. The Hurricanes got on the scoreboard first, as Elias Lindholm fired a shot at Cam Talbot that somehow was able to trickle between his pads and into the net.

But in the second period, the Rangers were able to score twice and take a lead into the last period. First, J.T. Miller was able to convert a nifty pass from Mats Zuccarello past Anton Khudobin to tie the score. Then a very pretty spin o’ rama move by Jesper Fast caught Khudobin flatfooted and the Blueshirts had the lead.

The third had some very good end to end action and Cam Talbot was fending off Carolina, until the refs struck again. A very borderline tripping call sent Derek Stepan to the penalty box. The Rangers now found themselves down a man and did what they always do, they attacked. While on the attack, Rick Nash broke into the Carolina end on a semi-breakaway, and was hooked by a Hurricane, but of course the refs MISSED that one and there was no whistle. Instead of being a four on four with an eventual Ranger power play, Carolina stayed on the PP and Ryan Murphy was able to blast one past a screened Talbot to tie the score.

So you have a bad goal allowed by Talbot and then because the refs choose to call just some of the penalties they see, a power play goal tied the game.

The game then went into OT, where Cam hung tough and the Rangers had more chances but could not score. So for the third time this season, the Hurricanes and the Rangers went to a Shootout. Elias Lindholm shot first and missed, as did Kevin Hayes. In the second round, Riley Nash was stopped by Cam and Mats Zuccarello came in fast and put a few moves on Khudobin before he scored.

It now came down to Jeff Skinner and Cam Talbot. A goal and the Shootout continued, a save and the game was over. Cam held his ground, made the save on Skinner and won the game for the Broadway Blueshirts.

Scoring:

CAR: Elias Lindholm (16), Assisted by Victor Rask & Danny Biega

NYR: J.T. Miller (8), Assisted by Mats Zuccarello & Derick Brassard

NYR: Jesper Fast (4), Assisted by Kevin Hayes and Carl Hagelin

CAR: Ryan Murphy (2), Assisted by John-Michael Liles & Jordan Staal

OT: No Scoring

SO:

CAR: Elias Lindholm missed, Riley Nash and Jeff Skinner were stopped by Cam Talbot

NYR: Kevin Hayes missed, Mats Zuccarello scored the game winner

Team Stats                              NYR                              CAR

Shots on Goal                         29                                  30

Power Play                              0 for 2                           1 for 2

Hits                                         46                                  28

Giveaways                              7                                    14

Takeaways                             12                                  10

Face Off Wins                        26                                  32

Blocked Shots                         24                                  10

Goalie Stats:

Anton Khudobin: 27 Saves on 29 Shots for a SV% of .931

Cam Talbot: 28 Saves on 30 Shots for a SV% of .933

3 Stars of the Game:

3^rd Star: Ryan Murphy: 1 Goal

 2^nd Star: Anton Khudobin: 27 Saves on 29 Shots for a SV% of .931

1^st Star: Cam Talbot: 28 Saves on 30 Shots for a SV% of .933

Broadway Bits:

The Rangers have won 45 games for the second straight season. They have now won at least 45 games in a season for the eighth time in team history.

The only other time they have won at least 45 games in consecutive seasons goes back to 1970-71 to 1972-73 when the Blueshirts did it in three straight seasons

The Rangers have allowed two goals or fewer in 38 of 70 games this season and have a 34-2-2 record when doing so

The Rangers are also 30-0-1 when leading after two periods this season. The Rangers are 144-1-9 in their last 154 games when leading after 2 periods. This dates back to 2/6/10

The Rangers set a season high in hits with 46 vs Carolina; with 17 players registering at least one hit and seven different players with at least three each

Mats Zuccarello scored the game winning goal in the shootout, registered an assist and was credited with four hits

Jesper Fast scored a goal, had two shots on goal, had two hits and posted a plus one rating in 15:48 of ice time

J.T. Miller had a goal and three shots on goal in 16:09 of ice time

Kevin Hayes had an assist (his 20^th of the season), three shots on goal, two hits and posted a plus one rating in 17:24 of ice time

Derick Brassard had an assist, won eight of 13 faceoffs (62%) and had two takeaways in 16:22 of ice time

Carl Hagelin had an assist, two shots on goal, two hits and posted a plus one rating in 15:21 of ice time

The Rangers now at 45-18-7 for 97 Points and First Place in the Metropolitan Division. They are two points behind only Montreal and Anaheim; whom they will face on Sunday night at MSG