Jeff Skinner scored Carolina's only goal 8:07 into the third, but it gave the hosts life down the stretch, especially in the final three minutes with their net empty and with Hayes in the penalty box.
"Organized chaos, if you can say that" Lundqvist joked of the final push by the Hurricanes to try and tie the game. "They were throwing pucks all night. Shorthanded, last minute - what happened in Washington, too. You want to get this win and feel good about it afterwards. It felt really important to pull it off."
Coach Alain Vigneault said his team made adjustments to their 6-on-5 - and 6-on-4 - defense following the late goal against the Capitals Wednesday that led to an overtime loss.
"We talked about it. We showed some video examples of better positioning," Vigneault said. "We didn't have time to practice it but we showed it on video and showed it to the whole team … and we were able to respond a little bit better tonight."
The victory by the Rangers officially eliminated the Hurricanes from playoff contention. And while there's little solace for the Blueshirts, it's something to play for.
"If we're not getting in, we're going to make sure that as many teams we play against these next games don't get in as well," Mika Zibanejad said. "They can join us in April."