RALEIGH, N.C. — Halfway through the 2025-26 season, the Rangers probably are half the team they want to be.
It certainly didn’t take until Game 41 of the 82-game campaign Monday night — when the Blueshirts blew a third-period lead and fell 3-2 to the Hurricanes in overtime — for that to be abundantly clear.
Even in a clash that highlighted the tried and true aspects of their game — goaltending and the power play — the Rangers did not have enough to take down the Metropolitan Division leaders.
“You got to close out games in this league,” Vincent Trocheck said after Jackson Blake scored a power-play goal with 12.6 seconds left in the extra period to secure the win for Carolina. “I mean, the [third-period] goal that goes in is just a battle in front. It goes off a leg. It’s the kind of goals that you got to be willing to score against them. They’re definitely willing to score those types of goals against most teams. It’s just battle in the trench areas, and they won that battle.”
Star goalie Igor Shesterkin’s 33-save performance was worthy of two points, but the Rangers in front of him let it slip at the end and had to settle for one.
The Hurricanes doubled the Rangers shots on goal through the final 20 minutes of regulation, which counted as the second period they managed to do so after dumping 13 shots on Shesterkin in a 1-1 opening frame.
In overtime, however, the puck was almost entirely on the Hurricanes’ sticks following Trocheck’s early giveaway.
When Matthew Robertson was called for tripping Taylor Hall, the home team capitalized on its opportunity.
“Obviously, the difference in the game, we give up a 5-on-3 and a 4-on-3,” head coach Mike Sullivan said. “You can’t put yourself down in those circumstances. That puts us all in tough spots.”
The Rangers got off to a strong start that was rewarded in the form of an early power-play goal from Vladislav Gavrikov.
After attacking the net early, Noah Laba drew a slashing call on Alexander Nikishin. While Laba had to retreat to the locker room for a bit to get his hand tended to, the Rangers scored exactly 30 seconds into the man advantage.
Gavrikov blasted the puck from the top of the circle for his first-ever power-play point. The goal also counted as his seventh of the season, which set a new career high for the 30-year-old in his seventh NHL campaign.
Carolina ultimately more than doubled the Rangers shots on goal (13-5) through the opening 20 minutes, notching the equalizer with a power-play goal of their own at the 15:57 mark.
A couple of undisciplined penalties from Jonny Brodzinski (tripping) and Braden Schneider (delay of game) gave the Hurricanes a 5-on-3 edge for 1:41. Sebastian Aho then sniped his 14th goal of the season into the top corner to even the score at 1-1.
The middle frame was a much more even period between the two teams, with the visitors taking a 2-1 lead.
Skating around the Canes net and breaking free from coverage, Brodzinski knocked in a deflected puck that came off the stick of Sam Carrick. Robertson’s one-timer from the top of the zone helped facilitate the go-ahead score.
The home team managed to tie it up once again in the third period, when the puck rebounded off Jordan Martinook posting up in front of the Rangers net.
“I think it’s been a mixed bag,” Sullivan said of where his team is halfway through the season. “We’re right in the thick of it. I think we’re capable of being better. I think there’s another level we got to push ourselves to try to get there.”
