NHL Playoffs: Flames win high scoring affair, Hurricanes beat Rangers in OT
Anthony Scultore
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The NHL Playoffs Round 2 continued with the opening of the other two series.
In what was a defense is optional contest, the Calgary Flames took Game 1 over the Edmonton Oilers. A grand total of 15 goals were scored to open the Battle of Alberta with Matthew Tkachuk leading the offensive charge registering a hat trick.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes only had one goal between them for about 58 minutes until Sebastian Aho found some space to tie it up. The Hurricanes would complete the comeback victory in OT when Ian Cole’s harmless shot was accidentally deflected Ryan Lindgren past Igor Shesterkin.
The NHL action continues tonight with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Colorado Avalanche looking to go up 2-0 in their respective series.
NHL Playoffs: Hurricanes 2 vs Rangers 1 (OT)
Ian Cole scored 3:12 into overtime to lift the Carolina Hurricanes to a 2-1 win against the New York Rangers in Game 1 of their second-round Stanley Cup playoff series on Wednesday in Raleigh, N.C.
Cole, who had two goals during the regular season, scored on a slap shot from the right point that hit the stick of New York defenseman Ryan Lindgren along the way to the net.
“I was looking to pass it to someone, and no one was really anywhere dangerous. I was like, I guess I’ll throw it on net and see what happens,” Cole said. “Hockey is a game of weird bounces, and it just happened to go in. Not the prettiest, but we’ll take it.”
Sebastian Aho scored the tying goal late in regulation for Carolina, and Antti Raanta made 27 saves. The Hurricanes won the Metropolitan Division title by six points over the Rangers this season.
Filip Chytil scored early in the game, and Igor Shesterkin made 24 saves for the Rangers, who have advanced past the first round for the first time since 2017.
The Hurricanes finally got a shot past Shesterkin with 2:23 left in the third period to tie the score 1-1.
Aho, who had hit the post 24 seconds earlier, drove to the net as he received a pass from Seth Jarvis. He cut in front of Shesterkin, who stuck out his right pad to stop Aho’s first attempt, but Aho pushed the puck into the net.
“Definitely a tough loss,” Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. “We’ve been there, done that. We’ve got to battle back.”
Game 2 is set for Friday night, also in Raleigh.
NHL Playoffs: Flames 9 vs Oilers 6
The host Calgary Flames set a NHL playoff record with two goals 51 seconds into the game and eventually claimed a 9-6 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday to open their Western Conference second-round series.
After the Flames blew a four-goal lead, Rasmus Andersson broke a 6-6 tie three minutes into the third period with a wrist shot from the right face-off dot for the winning goal to cap a three-point game
Matthew Tkachuk’s second goal of the game at 8:55 of the third period, a breakaway tally, provided the insurance tally, and he netted an empty netter to complete his first career playoff hat trick and finish the highest scoring playoff game in Battle of Alberta history.
“Probably our worst game of the playoffs so far,” Tkachuk said. “We got super lucky. That’s just not the recipe for success. Maybe we win this one, but we’re not going to win many more if we’re going to play like that. We’ve got to be better with the lead. We had a four-goal lead twice. That should be enough in the playoffs. We’ll be better next game.”
Blake Coleman scored twice, while Elias Lindholm, Andrew Mangiapane and Brett Ritchie added singles for the Flames. Goaltender Jacob Markstrom made 22 saves.
Zach Hyman scored twice and Connor McDavid netted one goal and three assists for the Oilers. Evan Bouchard, Leon Draisaitl and Kailer Yamamoto also scored. Starting goalie Mike Smith was pulled after surrendering three goals on 10 shots. Mikko Koskinen took the net and stopped 32 shots.
“Just a couple of mistakes, collectively, individually, that ended up right on their tape and back of our net,” Draisaitl said. “Lot of things we obviously need to clean up.”
Game 2 of the best-of-seven will be Friday in Calgary
–Field Level Media