The Carolina Hurricanes just couldn't beat Igor Shesterkin enough times as they lost 2-1 to the New York Rangers Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.
"It’s frustrating right now," said Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour. "First period was no good because we were in the box the whole time. We were lucky to come out of that 1-1. Our power play made a nice play to tie the game and that’s all we had in that period because we were in the box. Then we slowly got going a little bit and actually had a pretty good third period, but then we gave one up."
Carolina generated enough to win, piling on 27 shots over the contest, but Shesterkin was by far the biggest difference.
According to MoneyPuck.com, Shesterkin saved 2.06 goals above expected and turned aside a few that looked like slam dunks.
He was on another level and had a lot of support by a Rangers team that has implemented a very strong defensive system under new head coach Peter Laviolette.
“It was a hard fought game," said forward Sebastian Aho. "They’re a really good team. Just have to find a way at the end to win a hockey game. I thought the third period was almost our best. Even though we lost the period, I thought we created more offense and other than that goal, we didn’t give up too much. Little unfortunate. ... We’ve done a better job as of late being more consistent. I don’t think that this was that bad of a game. Obviously it hurts to lose a hockey game like this, but I think the effort has been more consistent as of late. But having said that, we can do a little bit of a better job still.”
Frederik Andersen also played a strong game, stopping 24 of 26.
Really, the one difference in the game proved to be a defensive collapse midway through the third period.
Jacob Trouba skated down the boards inside the Carolina zone and Tony DeAngelo followed him, but then peeled off and skated behind his own net, completely removing himself from the play.
Trouba, now with a wide open passing lane, found Will Cuylle streaking in and the young forward buried it from the top of the crease.
We took one breather," Brind'Amour said. "Just came off of our guy in the corner. He made a nice play, but that’s not how we do it."
The Canes put together a very solid road game through nearly 60 minutes, but defensive breakdowns once again proved costly.
Another tough battle was the special teams discrepancy. New York had five power plays to Carolina's two.
“That was a pretty even game," Brind'Amour said. "I thought both teams were playing hard, but we were in the box five times in like 10 minutes. They got one on the power play and we got lucky that they only got the one. But we only got two power plays. The other night we had to kill five and got one. When it’s an even game, that’s not how it should be. That’s what I’m feeling right now. I’m frustrated because that’s not how that should have went in my opinion. There was an icing at the end and I don’t know why they waved it off. The game’s on the line and that’s too easy a call to make. That’s my frustration at the moment.”
"Taking five penalties is not the way to win," said defenseman Brady Skjei. "Trying to stay out of the box in the future is huge, especially against a team like this. It just throws off the momentum of the game and kind of gets the flow of the lines and everything all jumbled up. We just have to stay out of the box. 5-on-5 is where we’re at our best.”
However, special teams proved to be not too big of a deal as both teams scored just once on the man advantage, with Chris Kreider putting home a terrific Artemi Panarin pass and then Seth Jarvis following that up by beating Shesterkin glove-high after splitting the Rangers defense.
“That was just a well executed breakout," Aho said on Jarvis' goal. "Obviously a high-end play by him to bury that breakaway. It was a good confidence booster. They have a good kill and good power play, so it was good to match up at least on special teams.”
The Hurricanes will be back in action Saturday night taking on the New York Islanders.
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