Hurricanes finding positives after 2OT loss to Rangers in Game 2

NEW YORK -- The Carolina Hurricanes felt powerless after losing 4-3 to the New York Rangers in the second overtime of Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Second Round series at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.

For the second straight game, the Hurricanes couldn’t get their power play untracked, going 0-for-5 again, just as they did in Game 1, a 4-3 loss in regulation.

Rangers forward Vincent Trocheck scored the game-winner at 7:24 of the second overtime, on a power play, no less.

New York went 2-for-7 Tuesday after going 2-for-2 in Game 1.

It’s been the difference in each game against a team that finished just three points ahead of Carolina in the regular season.

“I mean we are right there,” said forward Jake Guentzel, who scored two goals in Game 2. “It’s a small margin for error in the playoffs and we have to buckle down on the power play and find a way to get one there.”

What makes it more galling for the Hurricanes is that they are elite on special teams. During the regular season, their penalty kill was the best in the League (86.4 percent) and their power play was second (26.9).

They were 5-for-15 on the power play against the New York Islanders in a five-game series in the first round, but things have dried up against the Rangers, who had the third-best penalty kill in the League during the regular season.

In Game 2, the goal that tied it 3-3 -- by Rangers forward Chris Kreider at 6:07 of the third period -- came on the power play. Trocheck scored the winner 47 seconds after Brady Skjei took a cross-checking penalty.

In Game 1, Mika Zibanejad and Trocheck scored first-period power-play goals to turn a 1-1 tie into a 3-1 lead that put the Hurricanes on the back foot.

Their inability to match New York on the power play has been the deciding factor so far.

“We’ve got to be sharper,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We have to get on the inside. We’re on the outside. That’s not how we do it anyways. We have to get back to how we know how to.”

That reset has to start immediately with Game 3 at PNC Arena in Raleigh on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC).

Teams that open a best-of-7 series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs at home like the Rangers have here go on to win the series 88.6 percent of the time.

The Hurricanes have been down 0-2 in a best-of-7 series and won twice; they are just 1-for-6 when losing the first two on the road.

Not only that, but New York has won each of its first six games this postseason, sweeping the Washington Capitals in the first round.

Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin is playing to a .929 save percentage after six games. He made 54 saves Tuesday.

The Hurricanes know it’s not going to be easy, but they were defiant in their cramped, funereal dressing room at the Garden on Tuesday.

They believe there is a way back.

They look at the things they did well in Game 2 and see hope. They dominated 5-on-5 play for long periods and were the more dangerous team in overtime.

“We feel good about it,” captain Jordan Staal said. “The guys worked their tails off and we had some great looks 5-on-5, as well, to end the game and then we wouldn’t even be talking about it.

“Everyone in the room knows that our special teams have to be better, and we’ll get better and find a way to turn the tide in the series.”

There are positives.

Carolina’s top line of Guentzel, Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov was dominant at times. The three players combined for 14 shots on goal and 32 shot attempts.

Guentzel had two goals and appears to be rounding into form after a lackluster first round. His second goal, a wired one-timer off a sick pass from Aho, came at 18:18 of the second period and gave Carolina a 3-2 lead.

“We’re just playing well and trying to do whatever it takes to get the team a win,” said Guentzel. “[Aho] is such a special player. Whenever he gets the puck on his stick, you just have to be ready because he is going to find you. Obviously, he made an unbelievable play on [my] second goal.”

Carolina goalie Frederik Andersen (35 saves) played well, too. He made several key saves in the overtimes before allowing Trocheck to score on a rebound and give him a power-play goal in four straight games, a Rangers playoff record.

The Hurricanes believe, if they can switch the margins, it is a recipe for victory and life in this series.

“Obviously, Game 3 is huge and we are going to take our home-crowd emotion and hopefully stick it to them,” Staal said. “We have to get better in a lot of different ways but it’s always nice going home in front of our great fans and using that good energy and good emotion to find a way to get a win in Game 3.”