Rangers 4, Hurricanes 2

[March 08, 2014]  RALEIGH, N.C. — Rangers 4, Hurricanes 2: Derek Stepan scored the game-winner with 2:46 to play after setting up Rick Nash's tying goal just under four minutes earlier as visiting New York defeated Carolina for the 10th consecutive time.

Defenseman Ryan McDonagh added a short-handed tally and Carl Hagelin capped a four-goal third-period by scoring into an empty net as the Rangers halted a three-game winless drought (0-2-1) and earned their sixth straight win in Raleigh, N.C.. Henrik Lundqvist turned aside 22 shots and newly acquired Martin St. Louis earned his first point with New York by setting up Stepan's go-ahead goal on a 5-on-3 power play.

Jordan Staal scored late in the first period and Jeff Skinner converted on a third-period penalty shot for the Hurricanes, who carried a 1-0 lead into the third before tumbling to their sixth loss in seven games. Anton Khudobin took the loss despite making 40 saves.

McDonagh extended his goal-scoring streak to a career-high three games just over seven minutes into the third with a blast from the top of the right circle. Skinner put the Hurricanes back ahead at 12:07 on the penalty shot after he was hooked on a breakaway by defenseman Anton Stralman, but Nash answered 77 seconds later when his pass from the right-wing boards deflected off the stick of defenseman Andrej Sekera and past Khudobin.

The Rangers dominated the opening 20 minutes, outshooting Carolina 15-6, but the Hurricanes got the only goal of the period. Staal snagged a puck along the boards, moved in and whistled a wrist shot from the right dot to beat Lundqvist short side.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Nash reached 20 goals for the 10th consecutive season, the last two coming with the Rangers. ... Skinner's team-high 24th tally snapped a nine-game goalless drought. ... Rangers RW Mats Zuccarello, back in the lineup after missing the previous four games with a broken hand sustained during the Winter Olympics, picked up an assist and was involved in two goal reviews — neither of which went New York's way. An apparent score was overturned in the first four minutes of the game when the referee ruled he blew the whistle before Zuccarello crashed into the net and knocked the puck in.

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