The fight between the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers” for reaching the semi-finals of the Stanley Cup is shaping up in the most surprising way. After the first three matches of the series, the Blueshirts were one step away from a historic victory, but the Hurricanes abandoned the idea of going on vacation early and began to accomplish the feat. One of its main authors was Evgeny Kuznetsov.
The star Russian forward was long written off during his last spell with the Washington Capitals. And in “Carolina”, after Kuzi’s bright debut, they found something to complain about regarding the Russian’s play. What can we say – during the series with the Rangers, Evgeniy even dropped out of the lineup at one point. However, after his return to the main team, the 2018 Stanley Cup winner makes people talk about himself exclusively in a positive tone. Previously, Kuznetsov made a lot of efforts to protect the Hurricanes from the shameful “sweep”, and now he has brought his team closer to a loud comeback.
The fifth match of the series, which took place today in New York, could have been the last of the season for the Canes. As in previous games, the “Hurricanes” had a powerful opening of the match, they acted much more sharply in Igor Shesterkin’s possessions, but they could not bring the matter to fruition. Instead, Carolina got an own goal. The captain of the Blueshirts, Jacob Trouba, performed a cool solo pass in the counterattack and finished it with an accurate throw.
The Hurricanes were able to get even for this only in the third period, but they only had a few minutes to change the course of the match. Dmitry Orlov, with an elegant and very smart pass, found Jordan Staal at the entrance to the zone, he covered the puck from the defender and skillfully beat Shesterkin in close combat, restoring the status quo.
Within just a few moments, Orlov's longtime teammate put Carolina ahead: Kuznetsov disappeared from Artemi Panarin's field of vision and drove the puck into Shesterkin's net from close range, celebrating the goal with his trademark birdie.
It was Evgeniy’s goal that was decisive and victorious. Subsequently, the Hurricanes scored twice more, and the Rangers did not have any arguments for a convincing response.
For Kuznetsov, today's goal was the third in his career in a Stanley Cup match, which could potentially become decisive in the playoff series. The Russian is only the sixth active NHL player to achieve such an achievement. In this indicator, the Carolina forward repeated the result of his wonderful friend and now former teammate Alexander Ovechkin, with whom he created the championship for Washington in 2018. Corey Perry (3), Patrick Kane (3) and Chris Kreider (3) have the same number of goals in the same rating. The best among them remains Joe Pavelski (4).
“”I'm grateful to be a part of this. When we went into the third period, there was a realization that it could be the last of the season. I wanted to get rid of that feeling. So I'm glad that we won,” Kuznetsov said after the match.
For Carolina, the task of a comeback has not changed – the Hurricanes are still one step away from relegation. However, the series score is now 3-2, and the matchup moves to Raleigh. There is no doubt that the atmosphere there will be truly crazy, and with their fans, Kuznetsov and the company will make every effort to host the seventh game.
Recent Comments