Rangers

Sammy Blais, who tore his ACL in mid-November, was back on the ice with the Rangers for their optional morning skate on Wednesday before Game 1.

If the Rangers were to advance, there’s a possibility Goodrow would be able to play again this season. Gallant didn’t rule Goodrow out for this series, but if he isn’t skating, it seems like a long shot for the utility forward to be healed in time. While it’s an encouraging sign, the Rangers would probably have to go much deeper into the playoffs in order for Blais to be ready to play.

What's the Hurricanes-Rangers score? Who's winning New York Rangers vs. Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 of the second round of the NHL playoffs, ...

AND that lasts all of 27 seconds, when the Rangers’ Strome trips up a pair of Canes in the offensive zone. Fourth lines start: The Rangers choose to start their fourth line of Tyler Motte, Kevin Rooney and Ryan Reaves, with Jacob Trouba and K’Andre Miller on defense. Filip Chytil one-timed a pass from Alexis Lafreniere after Lafreniere intercepted a poor backward pass to the defense and finished the 3-on-1. Duke women’s basketball coach Kara Lawson was up during the first intermission and PGA Tour pro Chesson Hadley in the second. That was the Canes’ sixth shot on goal of the first period, some 14:23 into the game. Speed difference notable: The biggest takeaway from the first period is that the Rangers are a far faster team than the Bruins were, and some plays where the Canes may have had time and space against Boston, they don’t here. Tough to find space: Neither team here has much room to move in the offensive zone, which has made the game drag a bit. Rangers still getting shots, and Raanta in the zone there, but the Canes can’t seem to generate anything against Igor Shesterkin, which is a problem given he’s, you know... The Rangers’ active defense is frustrating the Canes, who appear to be jumpy and out of sorts facing the constant pressure — much like teams often feel playing against Carolina. Not going to beat the best goalie in the NHL that way. Canes have been the better team in the third to this point. Big Clanger: Nino Niederreiter gets a clear breakaway and rings it off the crossbar, beating Shesterkin, but not the iron.

No one called for a sweep, but a few had the Hurricanes winning in five games. As for the eight who picked the Rangers, one was Mark Messier who predicted the ...

The Rangers have defied the prognosticators all season and there is no reason that they can do it again, but as well know, the team will have to be at its best. Chris Bengel called it a win for the Blueshirts in seven games that will be a “fantastic series”. He points to goaltending as the difference. Scott Maxwell did the analysis and he predicted a Rangers win in seven games saying “We expect a nailbiter of a series. Sean Leahy was the only NBC guy who see the Rangers winning in six games. The Vegas odds have the Rangers at +1400 to win the Stanley Cup, improved from +1600 going into the playoffs. The Daily Faceoff was the only site that had a majority of staffers favoring the Blueshirts to prevail with five of six saying it will take seven games. He likes Igor Shesterkin in the goalie match-up and called the Rangers “resilient and deeper than the Canes.” Fischler also said that home ice won’t matter and is looking for to Adam Fox vs. For Adam Gretz (5 games) his reasons were multiple calling “Carolina younger and faster than Pittsburgh, the Canes are also not going to be using an AHL goalie in this series. Chris Peters also called all eight first rounds series correctly and he sees a Hurricanes win in seven games. No fewer than 27 ESPN staffers made predictions and 19 of the 27 called the series in the Hurricanes favor with most saying it will go six or seven games. You have to love Stan Fischler. The Maven predicted a Rangers victory in only five games. As for the eight who picked the Rangers, one was Mark Messier who predicted the first round win.

For the second straight series, the Rangers lost a Game 1 heart-breaker in overtime.

I think [for] two-and-a-half periods we play [how] we want to play and we dictated the tempo of the game. Hurricanes backup goalie Antti Raanta, who is filling in for their injured No. 1 netminder Frederick Andersen, was the only thing standing between the Rangers and a multi-goal lead. Shesterkin was sturdy and unfazed by the opposing crowd in the fourth road playoff game of his career. “They put a big push on in the third period for the first 10 minutes and we weathered that storm. The Rangers outshot Carolina in each of the first and second periods. They were commanding every inch of the ice, actively taking away what made their opponents so effective and holding the lead.

After defeating the Boston Bruins in seven, Carolina will take on the New York Rangers in game one of the second round. Carolina will be the host as the ...

Against Boston, they had a parade to the box at times and while the Bruins had high-end talent, the Rangers at times can be four guys and a goalie. It’s going to be the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach from Carolina. Carolina will be the host as the Division winners.

Nathaniel Lowe supplies the game-winner in extra innings for Rangers' first walk-off win of the season.

The Rangers had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the ninth. Trout’s home run tied a Rangers record for most career home runs against the Rangers. The first, a soft hit to left field in the bottom of the fourth, scored Seager from second base. Marcus Semien singled — his third hit of the game — and Corey Seager lined another hit to center. He homered off Iglesias on the first pitch, setting off a celebration and giving the Rangers the victory. Lowe came to the plate in the 10th with a runner on second and the Rangers down 5-4 after the Angels scored a run in the top half of the frame.

Get a recap of the New York Rangers vs. Carolina Hurricanes hockey game.

As defenseman Tony DeAngelo tried to send the puck back to teammate Jaccob Slavin for a reset, Rangers forward Alexis Lafrenière stole the pass to lead a 3-on-2 rush. The Hurricanes never trailed in that series nor in their four home wins. ... I thought it was our best game of the year, I really did." And that allowed the Carolina Hurricanes to escape their first home loss of the playoffs despite being completely outplayed most of the night. Yet it overshadowed the fact that the Metropolitan Division winners were fortunate to win after the Rangers controlled the first 40 minutes. “Kudos to our guys, they got it going in, it certainly was a good third period,” Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said.

Carolina just completed a 4-3 series win over the Boston Bruins. All seven games were won by the home team. The Hurricanes were 29-8-4 at home in the regular ...

But I thought it was their best game of the year, I really did.” But the Rangers outshot the Hurricanes, 28-26. Igor Shesterkin of the Rangers was the league’s best goalie this season. They were also favored in Wednesday’s game — with odds of around 1-2 — and favored in the series. Carolina is the top seed from the Metropolitan Division, but the Rangers finished just 6 points behind. Carolina just completed a 4-3 series win over the Boston Bruins. All seven games were won by the home team.

The third period was pretty awful. The Hurricanes had more shot attempts (22-9), shots on goal (10-4) and high danger chances (6-3). Still the Rangers got ...

On the game winner, the puck was deflected off Ryan Lindgren’s stick into the net. K’Andre Miller was the best Rangers defenseman and had one great shift when he broke up a break-in by Seth Jarvis, then ended up with a shot on goal at the opposite end. Although he was not overworked in the first two periods, Igor Shesterkin earned his salary in the third period. The Strome line was not a force either. All of the momentum belonged to Carolina and the sense was that unless the Rangers could wrest it back, the Hurricanes would win. Zibanejad also had a horrible night on the faceoff dots, losing 11 of 17 draws. The Hurricanes had 16 scoring chances versus the two lines while the Rangers had six according to Natural Stat Trick. The last one is the weirdest one. After Filip Chytil scored in the first period, the Rangers had several opportunities to build on their one goal lead. The third period was pretty awful. Going into a defensive shell is playing into the Hurricanes’ hands The New York Rangers played what Gerard Gallant called “a perfect hockey game” for 40 minutes only to allow the Carolina Hurricanes to tie the score with just 2:23 left in the third period, then lost in overtime.

Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour credited his team's mentality shift for what became a push the Rangers couldn't overcome.

Nothing about the way Carolina played in the third period came as a surprise. We knew we were right there, it was only gonna take one shot to tie the game.” “It was just the attitude, the way we played that period. Aho described Carolina’s room as “pretty confident” during the second intermission, well aware the Rangers had missed their chances to blow the game open. The forecheck that had been missing early on was there, in spades. “I think it was not the changes,” he said.

This was the goaltender who pushed Henrik Lundqvist to the bench for four straight games midway through the 2016-17 season.

There was a big-time save on Kaapo Kakko off a move to the middle in the eighth minute of the second. The Blueshirts cobbled together a sum of four shots in the third and one in OT. Raanta did not face his first shot of the third period until 8:40 remained. The Blueshirts could not jam the genie back into the bottle after that. Raanta made a brilliant left-pad save on Ryan Strome cutting across the crease less than a minute later. “You are always questioning yourself about, ‘What if I get the chance to play?’ ”

The Kids were perhaps the best Rangers on the ice on Wednesday, a little more than all right, in the Blueshirts' 2-1 overtime loss to the Hurricanes.

If you zoom out for a moment, and it is hard to do so amid a playoff run, the future for the Rangers is at least a little bit cloudy due to their dependence on goalie Igor Shesterkin this season. Instead, it has been the third line, which at the end of regulation on Wednesday had an 81.94 expected goals percentage, per Natural Stat Trick, that has consistently outplayed its opposition. Ditto for Chytil, though he does not have quite the same pedigree as Lafreniere. Kakko played just 43 games, missing most of the season’s back end. Wednesday was the latest evidence. Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour, holding last change with Game 1 in Raleigh, N.C., decided to try to eliminate the Rangers’ top line with his checking line. In these playoffs, Alexis Lafreniere, Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko have grown up fast.

BOTTOM LINE: The Texas Rangers will attempt to keep their four-game win streak going when they visit the Houston Astros. Houston is 9-4 in home games and 24-14 ...

The Rangers have hit 39 total home runs to rank 10th in MLB play. Thursday's game is the fifth time these teams square off this season. Houston is 9-4 in home games and 24-14 overall.