Rangers Take 3-0 Series Lead vs. Hurricanes as Panarin Thrills NHL Fans with OT Goal

Julia StumbaughMay 10, 2024

Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images

New York Rangers star Artemi Panarin scored one minute and 43 seconds into Game 3 overtime Thursday night to put the Carolina Hurricanes on the brink of elimination.

The goal sealed a 3-2 road victory and earned the Rangers a 3-0 Eastern Conference semifinals series lead.

B/R Open Ice @BR_OpenIcePanarin went BETWEEN-THE-LEGS for the OT winner 🤯 pic.twitter.com/JUgZdcBiaQ

Kuks @Johnny_K12Panarin are you kidding me with that???? Between the legs??? #NYR pic.twitter.com/Y87dGBpnUD

D-Rock @_deerock_That GWG by Panarin is definitely one of the sickest things I’ve seen in a while. #NYR

P- Queso #ThankYouToriyama @queso_gaming69All 4 goals for Panarin are all GWGs. What a clutch man he has been this year

After sweeping the Washington Capitals in the first round, this is the first Rangers team to start out the playoffs with a 7-0 record since 1994.

That was also the last year the Rangers won the Stanley Cup.

Liam McHugh @liam_mchugh1994 Rangers: presidents trophy, 7-0 start to playoffs, stanley cup champs
2024 Rangers: presidents trophy, 7-0 start to playoffs, ???

SportsCenter @SportsCenterIs it the Rangers’ year to hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup? 🤔🏆 pic.twitter.com/XTf1NVR7Ta

The Hurricanes, who finished the regular season with the third-best record in the NHL, struggled to beat Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin Thursday night.

Shesterkin made 45 saves Thursday night to backstop the Rangers to victory, two nights after making 54 stops during the Rangers’ double overtime victory in Game 2.

Cam Robinson @Hockey_RobinsonIgor Shesterkin is an animal.

The type of guy who can win an entire series on his own.

Peter Baugh @Peter_BaughIgor Shesterkin has been the best player in this series, and I’m not sure it’s particularly close.

Hurricanes winger Jake Guentzel got the Hurricanes on the board first midway through the first period.

Carolina held onto the lead for the rest of the frame by killing off three straight Rangers power plays, while goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov turned aside breakaways from Panarin and Vincent Trocheck.

Chris Kreider stifled the Hurricanes’ momentum with a shorthanded goal halfway through the second period.

B/R Open Ice @BR_OpenIceKREIDER WITH THE SHORTY 🗽 pic.twitter.com/rsVtJvW1bq

Adam Herman @AdamZHermanYou know, there was a time where I wondered if Chris Kreider had lost his elite speed due to age.

Nope lol

The tally marked Kreider’s second shorthanded goal of the playoffs, as well as Mika Zibanejad’s fifth shorthanded assist of the postseason.

Zibanejad also tied a franchise record with 12 points in the first seven games of the Rangers’ postseason.

NHL Public Relations @PR_NHLMika Zibanejad factored on the @NYRangers’ first goal of Game 3 and extended his point streak to seven contests. #StanleyCup

Tune in now on @NHL_On_TNT, @StreamOnMax, @Sportsnet and @TVASports. #NHLStats: https://t.co/ntyKIo3YNK pic.twitter.com/XKXnDZiBGH

Kreider’s goal continued the special-team dominance that has allowed the Rangers to put the Canes on the brink of elimination.

The Hurricanes finished the game having gone 0-for-5 on the power play. They are now 0-for-15 in the series.

Chris Jastrzembski @Chris_Jast13th special teams goal for the Rangers this postseason.

Their opponents have 2. Both in Game 2 against Washington.

Boomer @ESPNHockey235v5 this series:
Rangers 4, Canes 7

Special Teams this series:
Rangers 5, Canes 0

Hard to overcome a gap that big on special teams. That shorthanded goal was nasty timing if you’re Carolina.

Seven minutes into the third period, Alexis Lafrenière scored on a set face-off play to put the Rangers ahead for the first time.

B/R Open Ice @BR_OpenIceLAFRENIERE GIVES THE RANGERS THE LEAD 😱 pic.twitter.com/4jWxBzQwdN

Big Head Hockey @BigHeadHckyEveryone this postseason with more points than Alexis Lafreniere in less TOI/Game:

— no one

3g | 5a | 8pts in 7 playoff games as a 22-year-old. pic.twitter.com/sSNLrHKAlR

Adam Herman @AdamZHermanEveryone who wouldn’t shut up about Alexis Lafreniére’s 5v5 g/60 was, in the end, 100% correct about him.

Andrei Svechnikov even the score with the Hurricanes’ net empty to tie the game in the final two minutes of regulation.

It then took less than two minutes of overtime for Panarin to put the Rangers ahead for good.

The Rangers could earn a ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second time in three seasons with a win in Game 4. The Hurricanes will meanwhile fight to extend their postseason when the puck drops at PNC Arena Saturday at 7 p.m. ET.