Artemi Panarin’s Game 3 OT winner pushes the Hurricanes to the brink

Game by game, the Rangers have embraced the postseason so far.

It was Artemi Panarin who showed his teeth this time in overtime, scoring 1:43 into the extra period by slipping a backhand pass from Vincent Trocheck between his legs before extending just one leg — perhaps higher than ever — on his signature celebratory kick.

“Bread talked in the locker room and then it talked on the ice,” Trocheck quipped after dishing out two assists in the win, extending his point streak to seven straight games.

This was a win from a team that had its heart in it from the start for a special reason.

When goalkeeper Igor Shesterkin led Rangers into the warm-up, right behind him was Filip Chytil.

The Czech center took to the ice under the white hues of the arena lights to compete in his first game since suffering what is believed to be the fourth documented concussion of his seven-year NHL career.

“I never felt better when someone hit me or I hit someone,” Chytil said with a smile that did not leave his face throughout his post-match interview. “I even got plastered in the face at one point and said to myself, ‘Yes, give me more.’”

Alexis Lafreniere’s breakout season also continued this season.

After taking a huge lead in the previous game, the 2020 No. 1 overall pick, once considered a flop, scored his third goal in two games off Carolina goalkeeper Pyotr Kochetkov — who had relieved Frederik Andersen of his duties — to break a 1-1 tie for third place. . period and gave the Rangers their first lead of the night.

Red-clad fans crept into the stadium’s red chairs, but rose again once Andrei Svechnikov scored the tying goal during a six-on-five lead with 1:36 remaining in regulation.

“I’ll be honest, I was really confident, just the way we were playing the game,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. “It was tough the way the game ended, but it shouldn’t be a reflection of how you get better as the game goes on. That was the message that came back there.” [for OT]. “This is a resilient group and they have been in these situations before.”

After being exhausted in the first period, Rangers played a more competitive midfield style and managed to level the score by one goal in the second intermission.

Laviolette wanted his team to do a better job of staying out of the box, but the Rangers found themselves shorthanded three times in the second half.

But special teams continues to swing in the Rangers’ favor in a big way.

The Blueshirts’ offensive-minded penalty kill took advantage for the third time in the postseason.

Mika Zibanejad made a great one-touch play to get the puck out of the Rangers zone and speed up the ice before slotting the puck past Chris Kreider, who sent a five-hole backhander over Kochetkov to tie the score at 1-1.

This gave the Rangers fans in attendance some excitement, as they started the song “Let’s Go Rangers!” hymn.

“I thought we did a good job with the pressure we were putting on,” said Kreider, who scored his third goal of the postseason. “On the other hand, I think they did a good job with their pressing as well. I think there are some things we would like to do a little better on our power play to take advantage of some of the opportunities we had.”