Recap: Rangers Force Game 7, Canes Fall 5-2

NEW YORK, NY. -The second round series between Carolina and New York will come down to Monday night in Raleigh, as the Rangers earned a 5-2 victory in Saturday's Game 6.

Three Things

1) A Tough Night At The Office
Antti Raanta entered the contest with a .931 save percentage and a phenomenal postseason run to his name.
Unfortunately tonight's contest had a different outcome for the Finnish netminder, who undoubtedly would like the first two goals against him back.
The first tally of the night, a Tyler Motte wrist shot on the rush, snuck through Raanta's body and his glove hand. Then, 2:29 later, a Mika Zibanejad shot on the power play beat the netminder low as he was anticipating the forward dipping behind the net.
After allowing a third goal against just 3:24 into the third Raanta was removed from the game in favor of Pyotr Kochetkov.'

2) Wrong Side Of The Special Teams Battle
For the fifth time this series the Canes were held to another unsuccessful night on the power play. On the other side of things, the Rangers scored on the man advantage during the first period for a fourth consecutive game, tonight on their way to 2/5 evening.
Carolina had three chances on the man advantage over the course of the contest, but unfortunately moved their series total to 1/14.
For New York, they now move their six-game stretch to 5/18.
3) History On Their Side
The Canes now return to Raleigh for a second Game 7 in 17 days.
Carolina is 6-0 all-time in Game 7's.

They Said It

Brady Skjeioffering his thoughts on tonight's contest and turning the page from it...
"It's frustrating we couldn't close it out. We'll try and move on from this pretty quickly. We have a lot of confidence at home, like our record shows. We're excited and we'll be ready to go Monday."
Jordan Staalwhen asked if he felt like some players on his team played tonight like they knew they'd have Game 7 at home even if they lost...
"No, we came here to win. We needed a better start. We gave them a couple goals and we took a few tough penalties. We still battled hard, created a lot and we had opportunities to score. We still gave up one too many Grade A-chances against our goalies. We have to do a better job of that. We're playing a team that can score quickly, so we have to find a way to keep those Grade A's down, but also stay playing our style."
Rod Brind'Amourtouching on Raanta's evening and moving on from the contest as a whole...
"Yeah, I'm sure he'd like to have those [early goals] back. This time of year it's tough. You can say that he has to make those saves, but it's behind us now. We have to turn the page and the good news is that we don't have to end on that. We have another shot here."

What's Next?

The Canes fly back to Raleigh immediately post-game. Game 7 will be Monday night at 8 p.m.

Bonus Notes

Worth A Click:
Mailbag #29: Back To The Big City
Slavin Named Lady Byng Trophy Finalist
Round Two Schedule
Game 7 Tickets
Canes 2022 Playoffs Merch