The Presidents' Trophy jinx is temporarily on hold.
The Carolina Hurricanes were looking like they would force a Game 7 after losing the first three games of the series. But Chris Kreider scored a third-period hat trick to give the No. 1 overall New York Rangers a 5-3 victory Thursday night to earn a trip to the Eastern Conference final.
He's the third player in Rangers history to record a playoff hat trick in a single period, joining Mark Messier (1994) and Wayne Gretzky (1997).
"That is just a monster third period," Rangers coach Peter Laviolette told reporters. "He put it on his back and he really delivered. It was more than him, but at the end of the day, we needed to score goals and this is what he does."
The Hurricanes had built a 3-1 lead through two periods on goals by Martin Necas, Seth Jarvis (with Carolina's second power-play goal of the series) and Sebastian Aho.
Then Kreider turned it around in the third period. He tucked in a rebound, scored on a power play deflection with Selke Trophy finalist Jordan Staal in the penalty box and put New York up 4-3 with a shot from in front after he took a pass from Ryan Lindgren. Barclay Goodrow added an empty-net goal.
"It means we get to play more hockey," said Kreider, the Rangers' all-time leader with 47 playoff goals.
The Hurricanes, who finished three points behind the Rangers in the regular season, hit several posts in the third period and Staal was robbed by Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin. He finished with 33 saves.
"We look back on those first three games where we lost by a goal and in overtime," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour told reporters. "There’s a play here or there and everything’s different and we just didn’t find it. Even tonight, another goal puts the game to a different story and we had opportunities."
Only eight teams have won the Presidents' Trophy and Stanley Cup in the same year and the Boston Bruins, last year's winner, blew a 3-1 series lead in the first round. The Rangers won the Cup in 1994 and got to the conference final in 2015 the last two times they led the regular season in points.
What's next for the New York Rangers?
They head to the conference final for the second time in three years and will face the winner of the Bruins-Florida Panthers series, which Florida leads three games to two. Game 6 is Friday night in Boston and Bruins captain Brad Marchand might be available after a Game 3 injury.
BRAD MARCHAND: Part of playoff hockey is trying to hurt opponents
The Rangers will have home-ice advantage as the Presidents' Trophy winners and will open the series at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET, ESPN). They went 3-0 against Boston and 1-2 against Florida during the regular season.
What's next for the Carolina Hurricanes?
The biggest priority is a new contract for Brind'Amour, who is in the final year of his deal. It's expected to get done. If not, there are five NHL teams with openings that probably could be making a call.
Another decision is on trade deadline acquisition Jake Guentzel, a pending unrestricted free agent. The Hurricanes gave up Michael Bunting, three prospects and a second-round pick (it would have been a first if they reached the Stanley Cup Final). He did his part with 25 points in 17 regular-season games and nine points in 11 playoff games.
The list of pending UFAs includes defensem*n Brady Skjei, Brett Pesce, Jalen Chatfield and Tony DeAngelo, plus forwards Teuvo Teravainen, Jordan Martinook and Stefan Noesen.
Martinook looked to be the star of Thursday's game before Kreider's hat trick, picking up a nice assist and preventing a goal with a diving play.
Restricted free agents Necas and Jarvis are up for big raises.
This Hurricanes team could look vastly different next season.
"We'd love to roll it back with these guys, but who knows how that's all going to shake out?" Brind'Amour said.
Canucks 3, Oilers 2
J.T. Miller scored the tiebreaking goal with 32.6 seconds remaining to give the host Vancouver Canucks a 3-2 comeback victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday and put them one win away from reaching the Western Conference finals.
Carson Soucy and Phillip Di Giuseppe also scored for the Canucks, who lead the best-of-seven conference semifinal set 3-2. Vancouver goaltender Arturs Silovs stopped 21 shots.
The Canucks will try to close out the series on Saturday in Edmonton.
With overtime looming, the Canucks rushed up ice in a last-ditch attempt to claim victory. Elias Lindholm's sharp-angled shot ricocheted off the skate of teammate Elias Pettersson and rang off the post, and Miller was on the spot to bury the loose puck for his third goal of the playoffs.
Evander Kane and Mattias Janmark scored for the Oilers, who twice surrendered leads in the clash. Goalie Calvin Pickard stopped 32 shots. — Field Level Media
