Shesterkin superb as Rangers dominate Game 7

Greg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer.

RALEIGH, N.C. — The New York Rangers defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 6-2 in Game 7 on Monday night, advancing to the Eastern Conference finals to face the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Goaltender Igor Shesterkin made 36 saves for this second win in a Game 7 during the playoffs. Forward Chris Kreider scored twice, while defenseman Adam Fox, center Ryan Strome, center Filip Chytil and forward Andrew Copp added goals.

It’s the first trip to the Stanley Cup semifinals for the Rangers since 2015, when they, too, faced the Lightning.

The Eastern Conference Finals begin on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden. They won all three meetings with the Lightning in the regular season, with Shesterkin in goal for each victory.

Game 7 ended a 13-game playoff streak for the Carolina Hurricanes in which the home team won every game. It also marked the first time an opponent scored more than two goals in a game at PNC Arena.

Fox gave the Rangers the early 1-0 lead, as New York’s power play scored for the fifth straight game. New York earned the power play after goalie Antti Raanta turned the puck over deep in his zone, leading to a Sebastian Aho hooking penalty. The Hurricanes had killed off most of that man-advantage when Fox jumped off the Rangers bench. The Carolina penalty kill didn’t pick him up. That allowed Fox to skate in, shoot the puck and beat Raanta glove side for the 1-0 advantage just 3:40 into the game.

Carolina had a power play after that, failing to convert. The Hurricanes then took a bench minor for too many men on the ice at 7:46 of the first period as an injured Seth Jarvis couldn’t leave the ice before a sixth skater hopped on — the result of another crushing hit from Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba in the series. Kreider deflected a Mika Zibanejad shot past Raanta for the 2-0 lead just 14 seconds into the power play.

Jarvis, a first-line winger, did not return to the game for the Hurricanes.

The Hurricanes power play remained powerless in this series, failing to score on three opportunities in the first two periods.

As their offense struggled to find traction in the second period, the Hurricanes suffered another injury blow to a significant player: Raanta, who suffered a lower-body injury while doing a split on a Zibanejad scoring chance. Raanta, who started 13 games in place of injured starter Freddie Andersen, who hasn’t appeared since April 16 with a lower body injury. He was helped off the ice by a trainer.

Rookie Pyotr Kochetkov entered the game and gave up a goal to center Ryan Strome at 16:19 to make it 3-0 for the Rangers. Winger Artemi Panarin chipping the puck up the boards to Strome, who came in on a 2-on-1 with Andrew Copp. Strome opted to shoot and beat Kochetkov on the second shot he faced after replacing Raanta.

Carolina finally broke through on the power play in the third period, as defenseman Tony DeAngelo scored just their second power play goal in 18 opportunities in the series. But the Rangers answered back 40 seconds later, as center Filip Chytil scored his fifth of the playoffs off a Carolina turnover.

Max Domi scored late in the third period for Carolina.

Shesterkin was great when the Rangers needed him, including a point-blank save on forward Jordan Martinook seconds into the third period to preserve the lead.

The Rangers goalie was 3-0-0 with a .958 save percentage and a 1.30 goals-against average against the Lightning in the regular season.

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