Script: flipped.
Down 3-1 and just 20 minutes away from a return to Madison Square Garden for a winner-take-all Game 7, the New York Rangers put forth a massive third-period effort to take a 5-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes and advance to the Eastern Conference Final for the second time in three years.
The driving force behind the Rangers’ epic comeback was winger Chris Kreider, who scored three goals in the final 20 minutes to stun a Hurricanes team that had led for 51:54 of the 60-minute affair.
“Whenever you’re in a spot like that, you need your big players to come up big,” Rangers forward Vincent Trocheck told reporters after the game. “Chris did that tonight.”
Chris Kreider’s Third-Period Hat Trick Makes History
Kreider became the third player in Rangers history to score three goals in a single playoff period, joining some elite company in Mark Messier (1994) and Wayne Gretzky (1997). With his first career playoff hat trick, Kreider also became the third player in franchise history to record a hat trick in a potential series-clinching game, joining Mike Gartner (1990) and Steve Vickers (1973).
Chris Kreider became the third player in @NYRangers history to record a hat trick in a potential series-clinching game, joining Mike Gartner (Game 5 of 1990 DSF) and Steve Vickers (Game 5 of 1973 QF). #StanleyCup
Kreider first cut the Rangers’ deficit to 3-2 at 6:43 of the third period, punching the puck in at the netfront before Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen was able to secure it. The Rangers tied the score at 3-3 just over five minutes later on the power play, when Kreider tipped in a shot by Artemi Panarin. The natural hat trick was complete when Ryan Lindgren fed the puck to Kreider in front of the net for a tap-in that put the Rangers ahead 4-3 at 15:41, and Barclay Goodrow scored an empty-net goal with 49 seconds left for the 5-3 final.
“That is just a monster third period,” Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette told reporters postgame. “[Kreider] put it on his back and he really delivered. It was more than him; but at the end of the day, we need to score goals, and this is what he does.”
Rangers Will Face Winner of Bruins-Panthers Series in Eastern Conference Final
With the Rangers’ elimination of the Hurricanes, seven teams remain alive in the hunt for the 2024 Stanley Cup Championship. Elsewhere in the East, the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers are battling for the chance to face the Rangers in the Eastern Conference Final.
On to the next. The work continues. #NOQUITINNY
The Rangers, who earned home-ice advantage as winners of the Presidents’ Trophy with the NHL’s best regular season in 2023-24, must now sit back and wait to find out who their opponent will be in the next round. Florida has the chance to send the Bruins packing with a Game 6 victory on May 17, while Boston will need to stretch the series to seven games and notch two consecutive victories in order to advance.
Either team would present a challenge for New York; the Panthers and Bruins had the third- and fourth-best records in the Eastern Conference, respectively, and Florida won the Atlantic Division with a 52-24-6 record. After trailing the Hurricanes for over 51 minutes in Game 6, however, the Rangers have yet to fully set their sights on the conference final.
“Five minutes ago, (I was) thinking about Game 7,” Panarin said postgame, per Peter Baugh of The Athletic. “Hard to say right now about next week.”
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Kreider Has ‘Monster Third Period’ as Rangers Stun Hurricanes