Trocheck, Shesterkin deliver big performances for Rangers in Game 2 win

NEW YORK -- Vincent Trocheck was wrapped in hugs along the boards, the instant kickoff of a wild celebration for his double-overtime goal that gave the New York Rangers a 4-3 win against the Carolina Hurricanes at Madison Square Garden Tuesday.

As Trocheck was being embraced by Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, Adam Fox and Artemi Panarin, the five members of New York's red-hot first power-play unit, another group of Rangers were mobbing goalie Igor Shesterkin as he was making his way down the ice to the celebration.

The two groups merged, with Trocheck and Shesterkin in the middle of it all, the right two players getting the right amount of love from their teammates and the 18,006 in the building, in full throat chanting along to "Slapshot," the Rangers goal song, 47 minutes before midnight.

Without them, the Rangers wouldn't still be perfect in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Trocheck was the first star of Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Second Round. He scored the winner on the power play at 7:24 of the second overtime. He had an assist. He led all players in total ice time at 35:21. He had six shots on goal and a game-high 15 shot attempts.

"He's engaged," Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. "You can see it in his demeanor and you can see it in the way he's playing the game. He's engaged."

Shesterkin was the second star. He made 54 saves. He made 32 straight from the start of the third period to the end; 17 in the third period, 10 in the first overtime and five in the second, all after Jake Guentzel scored at 18:18 of the second period to give Carolina a 3-2 lead.

"It's tough to beat our team when he's making saves like he was tonight," Trocheck said.

The Rangers have a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 series against the Hurricanes. They're 6-0 in the playoffs.

A lot of it is because of Trocheck and Shesterkin.

Trocheck now has goals in five straight games, tying the 91-year-old team record for longest goal streak in the playoffs set by Cecil Dillon in 1933. He set a team record with a power-play goal in four straight playoff games.

He has 10 points (five goals, five assists) and is averaging a team-high 24:11 of ice time per game.

"Now it's in playoffs and it gets pushed into games that have overtime, multiple overtimes, and yet his role doesn't change," Laviolette said. "He's part of every part of the game. I mean, I'm double shifting him just for backup on face-offs or just getting two centermen on the ice. That's more time on the ice. That's extended time. Power play, penalty kill, 5-on-5, his line's production, at the end of the game either way, and he just keeps answering the bell."

Shesterkin has allowed 13 goals in six games. He has a 2.01 goals-against average and .929 save percentage.

He made three saves with the Hurricanes killing a penalty in the last 1:12 of regulation. He was on point in overtime, especially with his left pad save on Sebastian Aho at 6:36 and another on the Carolina center with the Hurricanes on the power play at 4:42 of the second overtime, coming far out of the crease to challenge his shot from the right circle.

"He was fantastic tonight," Laviolette said. "You think of overtime, when your goaltender is making those saves in overtime, if you do it in the second period you've got maybe half the game to fight back, but in overtime those saves have to be made. He was fantastic."

The Rangers were strong in the face of their first adversity of the playoffs.

They trailed for 3:21 in their first-round sweep of the Washington Capitals. They never trailed in Game 1 against the Hurricanes on Sunday, winning 4-3.

But they were down 2-1 after the first period and 3-2 after the second Tuesday.

They never blinked.

Trocheck and Shesterkin wouldn't let them.

"Very resilient," Trocheck said.

Kreider scored a game-tying power-play goal at 6:07 of the third period. It was Trocheck who had the primary assist with Kreider scoring off the rebound of his shot.

The Rangers killed both of Carolina's power plays in overtime; Trocheck killed the first 1:02 of the first one and the first 1:17 of the second.

When they got their power-play opportunity in the second overtime, they cashed in. It was, of course, Trocheck's goal.

Through it all, Shesterkin was there to keep bailing them out when needed.

"It was a roller coaster for a little bit and for the guys to stay in there, locked in and focused like that, it was a pretty big effort," Laviolette said.

From two players in particular.

The Rangers can go a long way this spring if they keep being led by Trocheck and Shesterkin.

So far, they're perfect.