Panarin scores 4 goals, Rangers end Hurricanes winning streak at 7

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Artemi Panarin had four goals and an assist, and the New York Rangers extended their winning streak to five games with a 6-2 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena on Saturday.

Panarin scored his second goal at 4:33 of the third period on the rebound of a Braden Schneider shot to give the Rangers a 3-2 lead before scoring glove side on a breakaway at 15:59 to make it 4-2.
After Kaapo Kakko scored an empty-net goal at 17:46 to extend the lead to 5-2, Panarin curled with the puck in the slot and scored on a wrist shot at 18:56 for the 6-2 final.
"Four goals, first time in my life," Panarin said. "If I knew how to explain that, I [would] explain. I don't know what happened tonight, so it's probably my day tonight. Everything [went] in. It's a surprise. Sometimes when I feel something, it's zero points."
Mika Zibanejad also scored, and Vincent Trocheck had two assists for the Rangers (31-14-8), who are 6-0-1 in their past seven games.
"I loved the game. We played a good game against a real good team over there," New York coach Gerard Gallant said. "They're one of the best teams in the NHL. They dump a lot of pucks, they put a lot of pressure on you, and they got some good chances."
Jaroslav Halak made 27 saves in his seventh straight win.
"He was great," Rangers captain Jacob Trouba said. "He made some big saves at key times. He helped the defense a lot stopping pucks behind the net, moving the puck. That's a big help for us. He's been great."

Teuvo Teravainen and Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored for the Hurricanes (34-10-8), who had their seven-game winning streak and 10-game point streak (9-0-1) end. Frederik Andersen made 13 saves.
Carolina was playing its first game since Feb. 1.
"I was actually surprised how well we played at the start. We were really sharp," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "We needed to get more out of the [first] two periods."
Zibanejad gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 13:37 of the first period when he roofed a loose puck at the left post on a power play.
Teravainen tied it 1-1 at 6:50 of the second period with a wrist shot that deflected off the right skate of Rangers defenseman K'Andre Miller.
Kotkaniemi then gave the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead at 9:43. Halak stopped Kotkaniemi's initial shot from the slot, but the forward slid the rebound in with his backhand.
Panarin's first goal of the game, and 200th in the NHL, tied it 2-2 at 17:49. After Carolina turned the puck over in the neutral zone, Trocheck set up Panarin, who scored with a wrist shot from the top of the left face-off circle.
"I've felt like I've played with everybody on this team at one point or another," Trocheck said. "There's no time where I'm going to be disappointed or upset. Everybody on this team has the ability to play great hockey."

The Hurricanes controlled play in the second, outshooting the Rangers 12-4.
"The tying goal late in the second, that was a tough one," Brind'Amour said. "We had full possession, there was no stress on us. We turned it over to the wrong player, it's in the back of your net. [Panarin] is world-class for a reason. He was the difference tonight, that's for sure."
NOTES: Panarin's five-point game was his fourth in the NHL. He has nine points (four goals, five assists) during a four-game point streak. … Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho had his six-game goal streak end (nine goals). ... Kakko has five points (two goals, three assists) during a four-game point streak. … Zibanejad extend his goal and point streaks to four games (five goals, one assist). His 16th power-play goal tied Connor McDavid for second in the NHL this season, behind Leon Draisaitl (17). … The Rangers were held to a season-low 19 shots. … Hurricanes defenseman Brent Burns had his seven-game point streak end (four goals, four assists). … Carolina forward Jesper Fast played his 600th NHL game. … Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin was minus-1 with three shots and one block in 21:00 of ice time after missing six games with a lower-body injury.