Trouba Missed Hit Causes Storm: Hurricanes vs Rangers Game 2

The New York Rangers remain the only team in the playoffs who haven’t lost yet, starting the second round with a 2-0 record against the Carolina Hurricanes and following a double-overtime thriller at Madison Square Garden. Here’s a rundown of the game, a game that is getting a lot of attention for the late drama and how heated it got. Specifically, the Jacob Trouba attempted hit on Martin Necas.

First Period

The Rangers struck first with a goal on their sixth shot at the 9:07 mark when Alexis Lafreniere fired high stick-side past Frederick Andersen, who had no clear sightline to the puck. However, Carolina responded quickly with a goal at 4:53, as Jake Guentzel redirected a shot from Sebastian Aho. The Hurricanes took the lead with a buzzer-beater goal, with Dmitry Orlov tipping the puck past Igor Shesterkin with 5.4 seconds left in the first period, ending it 2-1 in favor of Carolina.

Kevin Bieksa pointed out during the intermission that the Hurricanes love to have their defense jump up in the play and get down low. That was evident again to start this game.

Second Period

In the second period, the game remained scoreless until the 12:28 mark, when the Rangers evened the score. A drop-pass from Artemi Panarin to Adam Fox led to a beautiful feed to Lafreniere, who scored from the side of the net. However, Carolina regained the lead, 3-2, after Aho set up Guentzel, who slid the puck under Shesterkin’s pad.

Third Period and Overtime

The third period saw the Hurricanes outshooting the Rangers, but the Rangers tied the game at 3-3 with a power-play goal at the 13:59 mark, as Chris Kreider jammed the puck past Andersen, who struggled to control it. Overtime play began with the Rangers on the power play, but they couldn’t convert.