Hurricanes edge Rangers in Game 4, avoid sweep in Eastern 2nd Round

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Brady Skjei's power-play goal broke a tie late in the third period, and the Carolina Hurricanes avoided elimination with a 4-3 win against the New York Rangers in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at PNC Arena on Saturday.

Skjei scored on a one-timer from inside the blue line with 3:11 remaining. It was the Hurricanes’ first power-play goal in the series; they had been 0-for-16.

“Giving up that lead was tough, but [it's] nice to finally get one on the power play,” Skjei said. “Obviously it was a huge goal at the time. I was pretty jacked up. Definitely a celebration. Those are a lot of fun.”

Alexis Lafreniere tied it 3-3 for the Rangers at 2:04 of the third when he carried the puck below the goal line and backhanded a shot off Frederik Andersen’s back and into the net.

“I was trying to get back and it didn’t work out that time,” Andersen said. “That’s when your mental strength has to kick in and you move on as quick as possible and try to make that next save."

The Rangers lead the best-of-7 series 3-1. Game 5 is at New York on Monday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS, CBC).

Evgeny Kuznetsov, Stefan Noesen and Sebastian Aho scored, and Andersen made 22 saves for the Hurricanes, who are the No. 2 seed from the Metropolitan Division.

“For us, of the four (games) that we’ve played, it might have been our least effective game overall,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “Hockey’s weird. You get the bounce here or there or the shot that goes in, that’s what happens. But we live to fight another day. That’s the most important thing.”

Will Cuylle and Barclay Goodrow scored, and Igor Shesterkin made 27 saves for the Rangers, who are the No. 1 seed from the Metropolitan.

"A couple breakdowns, they capitalized on their opportunities,” New York defenseman Jacob Trouba said. “We generated some good chances. The power-play (goal) kind of stings at the end, but that's hockey, move on. We're going to Game 5."

Kuznetsov put the Hurricanes up 1-0 at 1:51 of the first period when he skated into the zone, used Trouba as a screen and scored on a top-shelf wrist shot from high in the left face-off circle.

Noesen extended the lead to 2-0 at 6:33 when he scored with the backhand on the rebound of Teuvo Teravainen’s shot from the left circle.

“I don't think it was because we weren't ready to play,” New York coach Peter Laviolette said of his team falling behind. “I think maybe the chances were 7-6 us or 6-6, somewhere in that area. It wasn't a lot. But the ones we gave up were pretty noisy, they were loud.”

Cuylle cut it to 2-1 at 8:06, taking a pass from Kaapo Kakko in the neutral zone and scoring on a breakaway with a shot that went in off the right post.

Aho made it 3-1 at 15:29 when he scored on a quick one-timer from the left circle off Jake Guentzel’s pass from the goal line.

“It was a good period,” Aho said. “Obviously, we played it with a lot of aggression. We’re two goals up after the first, so we did what we needed to do. That was a strong start. We want to do that again (Monday)."

Goodrow cut it to 3-2 at 12:43 of the second period. He tipped Braden Schneider’s point shot in the slot.

The Hurricanes lost each of the first three games of the series by one goal, including a 4-3 double-overtime loss in Game 3 at New York on Tuesday and a 3-2 overtime loss here Thursday.

“We’ve always had the belief throughout the series,” Guentzel said. “We’re still fighting for our lives here. It’s two good teams playing good hockey, and there’s not much ice out there. The goalies are playing really well. We’ve just got to keep this moving through each day, get recovery (Sunday) and go back at it.”

The loss was the first in eight games this postseason for the Rangers, who swept the Washington Capitals in the first round.

"Go home, reset and focus on winning one game,” Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad said. “We've just got to keep going and hope for a better start, try to go for the lead on Monday."

NOTES: With the primary assist on Lafreniere’s goal, Zibanejad extended his playoff point and assist streaks to eight games (13 points; three goals, 10 assists). … Rangers forward Vincent Trocheck had his playoff point streak end at seven games. … New York forward Artemi Panarin was minus-3. … Aho has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in the playoffs and became the 10th player in NHL history to have at least that many in six consecutive postseasons. Wayne Gretzky is the leader with 11 seasons.