Carolina Hurricanes Beat New York Rangers in Propect Tournament Goalie Duel

The prospects of the Carolina Hurricanes and the New York Rangers met Sunday night in a goaltending duel that ended in dramatic fashion.

The game ended with a 1-0 score. As you can imagine, both goalies played their hearts out, but in the end the Hurricanes were on top thanks to some late-game heroics by center Zac Dalpe. The win marked the second game in a row that a Hurricane prospect team has beaten a Ranger prospect team.

The game began rather slowly, with the first hint of excitement coming about 11 minutes into period No. 1. Ranger forward Christian Thomas took the game’s first penalty when he tripped up Canes defenseman Derek Claffey. Nothing came of the power play as Ranger goalie Cam Talbot stoned the Canes at every opportunity.

Matt Kennedy of the Hurricanes and Jason Wilson of the Rangers broke into a fight at 17:29 of the first. This managed to up the energy level significantly.

At the end of the first, the shot total was 14-7 in favour of the Rangers.

The goaltending duel continued on through the second period, with both goalies standing their ground. The shots were 25-16 Rangers after 40 minutes.

Skip to the last 10 minutes of the third period, where the heat finally turned up. Hurricane goalie Mike Murphy was slow to get up after a whistle and required a quick check from the trainer, but he remained in the game. Play got tougher and quicker as the game wound down.

With 56.8 seconds left in the game, Dalpe scored the first—and last—goal of the game, making the final score 1-0 Hurricanes. The goal came off a rush and Talbot was screened. The final shot total was 33-26 in favour of the Rangers.

Carolina’s next game is on Tuesday, September 14 at 6:30 p.m., ET against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

My Three Stars:

1. Mike Murphy – Made all 33 saves and helped kill nine penalties. Great night.

2. Zac Dalpe – Ended the game and battled all night.

3. Cam Talbot – Stopped 25 of 26 shots, likely couldn’t even see the puck on the goal because of screening.

This article can also be found on Sports Haze.
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