Hurricanes Hold Off Rangers in Game 4 to Avoid Elimination

The Hurricanes got on the board first when Evgeny Kuznetsov intercepted a pass and wristed a shot past Shesterkin.

Stefan Noesen increased the lead to 2-0 before the Rangers struck back on a Will Cuylle goal.

The Hurricanes restored their two-goal advantage with under five minutes to play in the first on a Sebastian Aho goal. It was Aho’s 10th point of the playoffs, and he became the 10th player in NHL history to reach the plateau in at least six consecutive postseasons. The only other active players to achieve the feat are Brad Marchand (7 from 2018—2024) and Mikko Rantanen (6 from 2019—2024).

The Rangers got back to within one in the second period when Barclay Goodrow redirected a Brandon Schneider past Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen. They tied the game early in the third period when Alexis Lafreniere flipped a shot from behind the goal line off the back of Andersen and into the net.

Mika Zibanejad factored in on Lafreniere’s goal to record his 10th assist of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs (3 goals-10 assists-13 points in 8 GP). He tied Mark Messier (8 GP in 1995) for the fewest games in a postseason by a Rangers player to reach the 10-assist mark.

Chytil Out of Game 4

After competing in his first game back from a suspected concussion that sidelined him for the past six months, Filip Chytil was not available for Game 4 against the Hurricanes due to what the team described as “illness.”

He was not on the ice for the Rangers’ morning skate on Saturday at PNC Arena, but head coach Peter Laviolette classified the Czech forward as a game-time decision and ultimately did not dress.

With Chytil unavailable, Jonny Brodzinski drew back into the lineup for the first time since April 11. Matt Rempe took the ice for warmups but did not take line rushes and was ultimately a healthy scratch for a second straight game.