Carolina Hurricanes Make It Four In A Row With 3-0 Win Over Avery's Rangers

The Carolina Hurricanes  beat the New York Rangers 2-0 to end the Rangers three-game winning streak and extend their own to four. The Rangers appeared to grab the lead roughly four minutes into the game, but the goal was waved off because of a hand pass and it was all 'Canes after that.

The Rangers were playing like the Old Rangers even though they had the new Sean Avery. The referee took away a goal scored by the Rangers at the start of the game and watched Avery closely for the entire game.

The Rangers had trouble scoring before they added coach John Tortorella, agitator Sean Avery, big goal scorer Nik Antropov, and power play quarterback Derek Morris to the mix. Tortorella mixed up the lines last night, trying to generate offense, pairing Avery with team captain Chris Drury, but the Rangers could not stop the Hurricane train. Or the referee.

Carolina has won four in a row and eight of their last 10 outings. The ‘Canes have been playing their best hockey of the season.

Neither team scored a goal in the first period. Scott Gomez got two penalties in the first period, for hooking and high-sticking. Mark Staal and Markus Naslund got called for slashing and tripping.

As in the Rangers' last game, against Boston, the referees appeared to be watching Sean Avery very closely. Avery got a penalty for holding in the second period at the same time Dennis Seidenberg was called for hooking.

The teams were playing four men aside and Joe Corvo scored to make it 1-0 half way through the game. Avery knocked Corvo down right after he got out of the penalty box and was sent back in, called for interference.

The tight checking game changed halfway through the second period, when it was getting scrambly. It looked like playoff hockey. Rob Brind'amour made it 2-0 a few minutes into the third period on a powerplay.

Tuomo Ruutu got his 20th goal of the year at the end of the third period after the Rangers pulled their backup goaltender Stephen Valiquette. Cam Ward got his fifth shutout of the year and the 11th of his career.

Rangers coach John Tortorella put together a new line in the third period with Chris Drury, Ryan Callahan, and Sean Avery, to generate some offense. They didn’t get a lot of chances but they controlled the puck. Avery got a shot on net with about 2 minutes left but could not spoit Ward's shut-out.

The Hurricanes are now 36-27-5 for 77 points, in third place in the Southeast Division and fifth in the Eastern Conference. Carolina jumped from ninth in the Eastern Conference into a tie with Montreal.

The Rangers are now  33-25-8 with 74 points, in third place in the Atlantic Division and eighth in the Eastern Conference. It's early, but things have looked good for the Rangers under John Tortorella. The Rangers earned points in four of his first five games.

The game was the third of four 2008-09 regular-season meetings between the Hurricanes and the Rangers. The Rangers scored a 3-2 shootout win in the team's first meeting at the Garden and downed the Hurricanes 3-2 at MSG in January.

Carolina blitzed the Tampa Bay Lightning 9-3 behind Eric Staal’s four goals on Saturday and have exploded for 20 goals during their current three-game winning streak, which includes a 5-2 victory over the Capitals and a convincing 6-1 victory over the Flames.

Carolina has not made the postseason since skating off with the Stanley Cup in the Spring of 2006.

The teams will round out their four-game season series at the RBC Center on April 2.