Rangers completed their rise from their second straight 3-1 delay in the series by defeating the Hurricanes on Monday, advancing to the Eastern Conference Final.
Chris Kreider scored two goals, Mika Zibanijad scored three assists, and Adam Fox scored a goal and assisted Carolina pasted 6-2 in Game 7.
Igor Shesterkin saved 36 saves in the night, banishing the hurricane attack.
“He seems to raise his level every time we need him,” Kreider said at Sports Center after the win. “He’s very quiet on the net, and he handled the disc really well – that was huge for us too.”
Although they have found themselves on the verge of elimination multiple times during these playoffs, there is a lot of faith in the Rangers dressing room.
“I think we’re a resilient group,” Adam Fox told ESPN. “Maybe we are a little naive here, we are just coming in to play. We don’t want our season to end. We come with this mentality and it has helped us a few times.”
Despite maxing out their post-season 2022 playing time at 14 games through two rounds, Rangers are ready and eager to go.
“I’m not sure there’s a stress level at the moment, we’re playing very high,” Kreider said.
As a bonus to a second straight win in seven games, Rangers will face the Lightning Cup champions in the two-time East Final starting Wednesday — something they don’t take lightly.
“There’s a reason they’ve won back-to-back Stanley Cups,” Kreider said on “Sportscenter” after their Game 7 win.
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