Hurricanes Avoid Sweep, Beat Rangers in G3 as NHL Fans Champion Skjei's Late GW Goal

The Carolina Hurricanes' first power-play goal of the second round couldn't have come at a better time.

The New York Rangers were one goal away from sweeping their second straight playoff series Saturday when Brady Skjei rescued the Hurricanes' season by scoring on the man advantage with just over three minutes remaining in regulation.

The Hurricanes won 4-3 at home. New York still leads the series, 3-1.

The loss marked the Rangers' first of the 2024 postseason after they eliminated the Washington Capitals from the opening round in four games.

The deciding goal also marked the first of the playoffs for Skjei, who skated parts of five seasons for the Rangers before he was traded to the Hurricanes in February 2020.

Skjei's late game-winner came after Carolina already lost an early two-goal lead.

The Canes headed into the second period with 3-1 advantage thanks to early goals from Evgeny Kuznetsov, Stefan Noesen and Sebastian Aho.

Then Rangers winger Barclay Goodrow tipped in a Braden Schneider shot to slice the Hurricanes' lead in half in the second period.

Alexis Lafrenière completed the Rangers' comeback by scoring from behind the net two minutes into the third period.

Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin kicked aside a 95 mile-per-hour one-timer from Carolina defenseman Dmitry Orlov to keep the score tied late in the third.

Then the Rangers' Ryan Lindgren was called for a tripping penalty with just under four minutes remaining.

After Skjei extended the Hurricanes' season on the ensuing power play, Carolina fans started projecting how the team could come back to win the series:

Rangers supporters meanwhile weren't overly concerned about their team suffering a loss for the first time this postseason:

The Hurricanes will need another win at Madison Square Garden on Monday in order to further extend their playoff run. The puck is set to drop for Game 5 at 7 p.m. ET.