With 41 seconds left in regulation, Vincent Trochek took a delay of game penalty while the Carolina Hurricanes already had their net empty trailing by a goal.
Being 0-for-4 already on the man-up advantage, it seemed like the Canes were due — almost destined to send the game to overtime with a 6-on-4 advantage. Instead, Mika Zibanejad stepped into the faceoff circle and won possession for the Blueshirts, forcing Carolina to commit a penalty and ultimately sealing a 4-3 win for the Rangers to take a 1-0 series lead.
“Penalty kill I thought they did a great job,” Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette said. “There was a lot of time between the penalties and extra attacker… for a team who is shot heavy, it puts you under duress a little bit. You’re stressed in the defensive zone “
While New York dealt with their fair share of pressure on Sunday, having to kill off five Hurricanes’ power plays, they never broke under pressure. The Rangers’ power play opearted like a well-oiled machine on the other side of their special teams unit. Carolina only took two penalties in the game, and New York only needed a combined 26 seconds to put two goals on the board.
“I thought we started the right way,” Laviolette said. “I thought it was pretty consistent, the way we played, Mika obviously had a huge night.”
Now with a five-game win streak to start the Stanley Cup Playoffs, New York is playing with all the confidence in the world, and it starts at the top with their leaders. Their impact was felt tremendously in Game 1 of the series, as all 10 points and four goals came from the Rangers’ top six.
“As an offensive guy, you want to get involved,” Zibanejad, who scored twice and added an assist, said. “Obviously, when you are able to score and contribute to a win and help your team win, that’s a good feeling.”
The alternate captain for the Blueshirts set the tone early, putting the first goal of the series on the board less than three minutes into the opening period. He then proceeded to dominate the power play, scoring another and providing the helper across both man advantages.
While the Rangers’ special teams were the difference Sunday, New York was outscored 3-2 in 5-on-5 play and somehow held Carolina to 0-for-5 on their power play chances. While this may not be a sustainable model for winning throughout the series, the best teams find a way to win night in and night out, and that is exactly what the Rangers did Sunday.
“For our power play, I thought we were executing, trying to attack,” Zibanejad said. “That’s something we are going to have to keep doing if we are going to have success against these guys… I felt like it was a tight game 5-on-5, both teams are doing a good job of trying to eliminate chances as much as possible. So special teams are going to be huge for us.”
While it would be easy to start being overconfident in their ability and potential, Laviolette is doing his best to take it one game at a time.
“Playoffs for me is completely game-to-game,” he said. “We’re going to have to take a look at what we did right, try to bring that back to the table, look at what we need to do better, bring that back to the table… We’re going to have to elevate our game as well.”
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