Hurricanes blank Rangers in Game 2, extend lead in Eastern Second Round

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Antti Raanta made 21 saves for his first Stanley Cup Playoff shutout, and the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the New York Rangers 2-0 in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at PNC Arena on Friday.

The Hurricanes lead the best-of-7 series. Game 3 is at New York on Sunday.
"I didn't feel like I needed to do that many huge saves," said Raanta, who made his eighth NHL playoff start, all this season. "Our guys were making sure there were no back-door plays or easy shots. The PK was huge for us, and that last three minutes was huge also, so the guys helped me a lot for sure."

Brendan Smith scored a shorthanded goal, and Sebastian Aho had a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes, the No. 1 seed in the Metropolitan Division.
Igor Shesterkin made 20 saves for the Rangers, the No. 2 seed in the Metropolitan.
"You get your team prepared to play, you play as hard as you can and you hope you win these hockey games," New York coach Gerard Gallant said. "I'm happy with the way we performed overall. I wish we would have got one of these two games, we probably could have. That's the way it goes. Play well, play hard, we'll find a way to get another win."
RELATED: [Complete Hurricanes vs. Rangers series coverage]
Smith made it 1-0 at 15:54 of the second period when he drove to the net on a 2-on-1 and redirected a pass from Aho with Carolina killing a four-minute penalty after Brady Skjei was called for high-sticking. Teuvo Teravainen began the play by chipping the puck to Aho off the boards into the neutral zone.
"[Teravainen] makes great plays and he can chip it into space, where I saw [Aho] moving," Smith said. "I tried to get going as fast as I could and find the lane. [Aho] is an elite passer, and he put it right on the money, so I can't take too much [credit], but it was a good read by a lot of players."
Aho scored into an empty net for the 2-0 final with two seconds remaining.
New York was 0-for-4 on the power play.
"I'm seeing a great penalty kill put a lot of pressure on them," Gallant said. "We didn't find the inside man very often in the slot, the bumper guy. They put on a lot of pressure, and we just didn't adjust to it quick enough. We've got to compete a little harder, I think."

The Rangers' 21 shots on goal were their fewest in nine playoff games this season.
"We have a good defense. We have a really solid group back there," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "You're going to have to earn your chances against us for the most part. Both teams, we're not getting much going the other way either. Both teams are fighting for every inch out there. It's playoff hockey, and both teams are laying it on the line."
NOTES: Rangers forwards Chris Kreider (one), Mika Zibanejad (four) and Artemi Panarin (two) have combined for seven shots on goal in the series. They were New York's three leading goal-scorers during the regular season. … The Hurricanes became the first team to start the playoffs 6-0 at home since the Nashville Predators in 2017. … Raanta is 5-2 with a 1.83 goals-against average and a .939 save percentage in eight playoff games this season. He played the 13th postseason game of his NHL career. … Carolina had 24 blocked shots. Defenseman Brett Pesce had a game-high five. … Hurricanes center Jordan Staal won 14 of 21 face-offs (67 percent).