The New York Rangers were as dramatic as a Broadway play until the end of Round 2.

The Blueshirts trailed early in Game 6 of their series against the Carolina Hurricanes, and appeared in danger of not only allowing the Hurricanes to stay alive, but win the entire thing by sending things back to New York for Game 7.

The third period was all Rangers, though. A hat trick from Chris Kreider in that frame helped New York overcome multiple deficits and punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference finals with a 5-3 win.

Here’s a look at the keys to their run so far, and a look ahead at how they match up against their two potential opponents.

Rallying Rangers

There’s no arguing that New York had its worst outing of the postseason in Game 5 against Carolina. The Rangers were comparatively lifeless from the start — and still nearly completed a comeback to send the Hurricanes home.

New York responded well after losses in the regular season, and if Game 5 was a blip in that respect (as was losing at all for New York in the postseason, let alone twice in a row), Game 6 is where the Rangers showed why they were Presidents’ Trophy winners. Even after falling behind 3-1, they staged an epic third period rally to seal the deal on opposing ice.

Instead of letting Carolina continue to fester and create doubt about how good a lineup New York actually has, the Rangers tapped back into their strengths (i.e., scoring more than one goal like they did in Game 5) and channeling their top-tier pedigree in enemy territory. Perhaps it wasn’t the cleanest of series, like the Rangers’ first-round sweep, but in the end New York finished the job.

Best of the bunch

It’s cliché for a reason: If your top skaters aren’t performing in the playoffs, it’s tough to find success (just ask the Toronto Maple Leafs).

Consider New York’s run last season, when Artemi Panarin produced just two assists in seven games. This time around? Panarin had four goals and nine points — through seven games. Vincent Trocheck has been a revelation in the postseason, with five goals and 12 points, Mika Zibanejad has tossed in 13 points and Alexis Lafreniere is playing some of his best hockey to date, with four goals and 10 points.

While depth is always an asset in the postseason, it almost always has to be in tandem with a team’s high-end talent steering the ship. That’s what’s happening for the Rangers. When all their stars are aligned, it’s hard to imagine slowing this group down.

Stealing with Shesterkin

The Rangers can give an opponent’s goaltender fits when their high-flying forwards get in a flow. New York is fortunate its netminder is in top-top shape, though, because for all the Rangers’ offensive prowess, they allow a shocking number of scoring chances against.

Igor Shesterkin has been up to the task of keeping New York from hurting itself (too much) defensively. Not only are the Rangers giving up the most shots on goal in the postseason (32.9 per game), Shesterkin also faced the most high-danger shots (63) and completed the second-most high-danger saves (52).

Carolina in particular peppered Shesterkin with an onslaught of quality opportunities. The cool, calm, collected version of Shesterkin (circa, say, winning the Vezina Trophy in 2022) has been on full display throughout the playoffs (with a .924 save percentage and 2.33 goals-against average to prove it). There’s no question he’s an integral piece in the Rangers’ dominance and will continue to be so in the series ahead.

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‘IGOR’ chant rings out after another clutch Shesterkin save

Rangers fans go wild after Igor Shesterkin shuts down Jake Guentzel’s breakaway goal attempt.

Super special teams

It’s a classic case of pick your poison, because the Rangers can beat a team in multiple ways.

Their 5-on-5 numbers are, thanks to that noted core of offensive threats, strong this postseason. And then there’s the power play, which is third best in the playoff field (33.3%) and packs a powerful punch (with 10 goals through nine games).

New York’s penalty kill is even more effective, sitting second best overall at 91.2%, and it was a backbreaker for the Hurricanes to try to get through (Carolina started the series going 0-for-15 on the man advantage). And short-handed goals? New York leads the playoff field with four.

Thanks to that strong play in all situations, the Rangers present a formidable challenge to whomever lines up against them next.

How the Rangers match up with the Florida Panthers

At its best (and most entertaining), a New York-Florida series would just be nonstop goal-scoring. And if any two teams have the offensive firepower to make that vision a reality, it’s the Rangers and Panthers.

Florida and New York are averaging some of the best scoring totals in the playoff field (with 3.70 and 3.33 goals per game, respectively). They can be superb on special teams with two excellent power plays (30.3% and 23.7%) duking it out versus difference-making penalty kills (91.9% and 85.3%), and notably, the Panthers are second in shots on net (33.5) to spice things up even further with their competition.

The Rangers’ stars have come out in the postseason, and so have the Panthers’. Matthew Tkachuk (four goals and 13 points in the postseason), Aleksander Barkov (five goals and 13 points), and Carter Verhaeghe (six goals and 10 points) would be going stride-for-stride with the Rangers’ elite. And while teams don’t necessarily want to be into a track meet at any point in their season — particularly when stakes are highest — it might be inevitable when gifted scorers are rolling out on nearly every line.

New York’s defensive performance aligns with Florida’s, too. The Rangers have allowed 2.56 goals against per game in the postseason, compared to 2.60 by the Panthers — but Florida holds a considerable edge in limiting shots (giving up 24.2 per game versus 32.1). So, New York would have to tighten up there lest the Panthers take advantage to run wild. But even then, the back-and-forth that could come out of this series highlights what New York does well, and Florida has potential to offer up more chances than the Bruins might.

The Rangers’ other big boost is in the crease. Sergei Bobrovsky‘s numbers (.892 SV%, 2.62 GAA) have been solid, and he’s giving Florida timely saves. Shesterkin, though, has been exceptional for much of the postseason (.924 SV%, 2.33 GAA) despite New York’s leakier back end, and he has factored squarely into making New York appear at its most dominant. Naturally, we assume that will offer the Rangers a serious bump on the goaltending side (something they may not have in a series vs. Boston, where Jeremy Swayman has been locked in throughout the playoffs).

New York’s bread and butter has been its attack up front plus excellent netminding, and a series against Florida gives them the opportunity to lean on both — and punch their ticket back to a Cup Final.

How the Rangers match up with the Boston Bruins

This is the Original Six matchup both cities have longed to see on the big stage.

The last postseason meeting between these clubs was in 2012-13, a series Boston won in five games. The Rangers know what it takes to top the Bruins this time around, having swept the season series 3-0.

Boston doesn’t have the same showcase of scoring talent as New York does. The Bruins’ depth was an issue in their series against the Panthers, and the Rangers may, arguably, have more offensive threats in their lineup for Boston to heed. That would likely be the biggest question mark heading into this particular conference finals matchup: Can the Bruins go toe-to-toe with the Rangers up front?

Boston is relying on younger skaters than New York as well. While the Rangers are thick with experience, the Bruins require vital contributions from the likes of John Beecher (22 years old) and Mason Lohrei (23) to give them quality minutes in the postseason. The Bruins also average nearly one goal less per game than the Rangers (2.50 vs. 3.33).

It’s Boston’s goaltending that has been its backbone in the postseason. And Swayman might be the only netminder who can challenge Shesterkin when he’s in top form. The Bruins’ defense has allowed the third-most shots against (32.5 per game) while averaging the fourth fewest goals against (2.42 per game). The Rangers are in the same boat, giving up the fourth most shots (32.1) and fifth fewest goals (2.56). Frankly, this series’ winner would be the one not getting “goalied.”

The Rangers have a special teams advantage against the Bruins with the better penalty kill (91.9% vs. 81.8%) and power play (30.3% vs. 22.6%). But Boston’s kill stepped up big against Florida, and there may be momentum to carry on into another series, too.

Boston has shown resilience in the postseason by not blowing a 3-1 lead in the first round, and if the Bruins make it past Florida it will be by overcoming a 3-1 deficit. The Rangers would have to be prepared for Boston’s confidence to be sky-high going into a conference finals matchup that not too long ago likely looked — and felt — like a pipe dream.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Chris Kreider had a third-period hat trick to help the New York Rangers erase a two-goal deficit and beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-3 in Game 6 on Thursday night to advance to the Eastern Conference final.

Kreider single-handedly erased the Hurricanes’ 3-1 lead entering the final period. The go-ahead score came when he got position on Jalen Chatfield at the top of the crease and tipped in Ryan Lindgren‘s pass to make it 4-3 at the 15:41 mark.

That finally allowed the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Rangers to put away the Hurricanes, who had won two straight after falling into a 3-0 hole in the best-of-seven series. The Hurricanes appeared on the verge of forcing a Game 7 for a pressure-packed finale but couldn’t contain Kreider and the Rangers’ surge in the final 14 minutes.

Barclay Goodrow finished this one off by getting to a loose puck near the boards and scoring a long empty-net goal in the final minute, sending Goodrow to the nearby Rangers bench to be mobbed by teammates.

That sent the Rangers on to the Eastern Conference final to face the Boston-Florida winner, with the Panthers leading that series 3-2.

Kreider’s first goal came when he cleaned up a stop by Frederik Andersen on Mika Zibanejad at the 6:43 mark to make it 3-2. He followed by tipping in a shot by Artemi Panarin to tie it at the 11:54 mark.

Igor Shesterkin hung in after a pressured first two periods, finishing with 33 saves and coming up with a big stop on Jordan Staal near the crease and another tying chance from Andrei Svechnikov off a faceoff win in the third period.

Vincent Trocheck also scored off a deflection in the second period for New York.

Martin Necas, Seth Jarvis and Sebastian Aho scored for Carolina, while Andersen finished with 19 saves.

The Hurricanes also missed on multiple late chances to increase their lead, with Jordan Martinook — who had a highlight-reel sliding effort to knock away a loose puck from the goal line midway through the second period — and Jake Guentzel each pinging the metal past Shesterkin to come up empty.

There was also a big opportunity in the third when two Rangers collided and fell to the ice in their own end, leaving top Carolina center Aho with a 1-on-1 chance on Shesterkin. But as Aho skated in from the left circle, he went wide right of the net as he tried to move to his backhand.

Those missed chances added up to a brutal exit for the Hurricanes, a team that was in the playoffs for the sixth time in as many seasons under Rod Brind’Amour and has been open about the goal of breaking through to win the Stanley Cup.

Carolina finished three points behind the Rangers for the Presidents’ Trophy awarded to the top team in the regular-season standings, and entered the NHL playoffs as the favorite to win the Stanley Cup. But the Rangers won the first three games by one-goal margins — two coming in overtime — to threaten an unexpectedly quick resolution.

Carolina successfully beat back its power-play struggles for the Game 4 winner to stay alive, then rallied from a 1-0 deficit with four straight third-period goals to win Game 5 in Madison Square Garden and bring the series back to Raleigh.

But days later, the Rangers returned the favor with four straight of their own in the third, leaving a boisterous Hurricanes crowd in stunned disbelief.

New York Rangers coach Peter Laviolette is concerned.

He wasn’t alarmed when the Rangers suffered their first loss of the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs in Game 4 against the Carolina Hurricanes. He disliked the result, but liked the way the team played — with the understanding that three straight wins against the Canes to start the series gave the Rangers some breathing room.

But Laviolette saw the Rangers “off their mark” in Game 5, a 4-1 defeat at Madison Square Garden that narrowed their series lead to 3-2 and set up Game 6 back in Raleigh on Thursday night.

They didn’t play with speed. They didn’t have the proper offensive attack. Their details weren’t there. And that concerned him.

“I mean, anytime you don’t play up to your capabilities, you get concerned about that. But I also know that this group has had games like [Game 5] before and they responded,” he said. “I think there’s oftentimes a realization that it wasn’t us. It wasn’t who we want to be. Oftentimes this year, they’ve fixed that.”

What do the Rangers need to fix for Game 6? What do they need to be concerned about?

Here’s a look at how New York’s series with Carolina is trending — and which trends can be reversed.

Hurricanes are widening 5-on-5 gap

Consensus opinion entering this series was that the Hurricanes were the better team at 5-on-5. They were first in the regular season and the playoffs in percentage of shot attempts; the Rangers were 19th before the playoffs. The Canes were first and third in expected goals for and against, respectively; the Rangers were 20th and 18th in those categories. New York improved at even strength since acquiring Alex Wennberg and Jack Roslovic at the trade deadline, but Carolina has been on another level.

The Hurricanes have had the shot attempt advantage in all five games of this series, and the expected goals percentage advantage in every game but their Game 1 loss in New York. After scoring three goals at even strength in Game 5, they lead the 5-on-5 scoring for the series 11-9. They’re plus-25 in scoring chances and plus-11 in high-danger shot attempts.

“We really believe we had some good games at the start but had some mistakes, especially with the special teams. That’s gotten a lot better,” Carolina captain Jordan Staal said. “I think our game at 5-on-5 has been really good, really solid. And it’s coming together a little bit more. We’ve got to just keep fighting.”

While they’re underwater in expected goals (46.3%), the Rangers are even in goals for and against at 5-on-5 through nine playoff games. One big reason for that: The line of Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafreniere.

The trio has earned 55.7% of the shot attempts and are thriving in scoring chances (plus-12) and high-danger shot attempts (plus-6). But Carolina got the best of them in Game 5. They saw plenty of Jaccob Slavin, Jordan Martinook and Martin Necas, and all of them outplayed the Rangers’ most productive line.

The analytics say that Game 5 was one of the Rangers’ weakest since the All-Star break. Meghan Chayka of Stathletes noted that they had their second-lowest expected goals (1.95) and third-fewest scoring chances (10) in that span.

To address that, there may be some lineup shuffling for Game 6.

At their skate on Wednesday, the Rangers switched up their defense pairings. K’Andre Miller was reunited with Jacob Trouba, a pairing that saw the most minutes together in the regular season for New York. Miller’s former partner, Braden Schneider, skated with Erik Gustafsson, who had been playing with Trouba over the past few weeks. Both of those previous pairings were under 50% in expected goals share in the playoffs. Schneider and Gustafsson were also partners for most of the regular season.

Laviolette wouldn’t commit to those being the pairings the Rangers will ice in Game 6.

“There’s a lot of experience there. A lot of minutes together,” he said of Trouba and Miller. “They’re big and strong and have a lot of experience playing against top lines.”

The power-play outage

The Rangers’ middling play at 5-on-5 has always been mitigated by their incredible power play. They had a stretch of 10 power-play goals in five playoff games, spanning from Game 2 of their sweep against the Washington Capitals to their Game 2 win over the Hurricanes — a game in which they scored the tying and winning goals on the power play.

They didn’t score on the power play in Game 3 but had a critical shorthanded goal from Chris Kreider to tie the game. The Hurricanes are 1-for-20 on their own power plays, which has been just as important to the Rangers’ success as their own man advantages.

Carolina’s lone power-play goal was a big one, as Brady Skjei won Game 4 with a late score in the third period. While the Rangers scored shorthanded in Game 5, their power play was shut out again — marking the first time New York has gone three straight games without a power play goal since March 11-14.

“The power-play goals that we’ve gotten are on broken plays. We’ve got to move things quicker,” Laviolette said after Game 5. “They’re very aggressive in what they do and we have to move. I don’t think we’re sharp.”

The Hurricanes have been gaining momentum by finally slowing the Rangers’ power play.

“The kill has been really big for us in the last two games,” Martinook said. “I feel like the bench after you kill it off — and especially when you get blocked shots and guys are selling out — it definitely gives us a boost. You look at that next shift after having a penalty kill, it usually creates momentum.”

There wasn’t much that happened in Game 4 that would have the Rangers unnerved about closing out the series in Game 5. That included Andersen, who lost the first two games of the series and was replaced by Pyotr Kochetkov for Game 3. Andersen stopped 22 of 25 shots in Game 4, but was in the negative for goals saved above expected. He didn’t exactly inspire much confidence, giving up a bad-angle goal to Lafrenière in the third period that allowed the Rangers to tie the game.

But he got the win, which was the only thing Carolina cared about.

Andersen’s performance in Game 5 should give the Rangers a little more cause for concern. He had a 1.41 goals-saved above expected for the game, stopping 20 of 21 shots. The Canes played quite well in front of him, but when Carolina had to have Andersen make a stop, he gave them everything they needed.

“It wasn’t a ton of work. That was good on our part that we didn’t allow that,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “But obviously a couple big saves at crucial times. He kept us in the game. If they go up by two goals in that game, it would have been tough.”

The Rangers have had the advantage in goal all playoffs thanks to Igor Shesterkin. Whether or not Andersen has closed that gap depends greatly on whether the Rangers make life more difficult for him in Game 6. Chayka noted that the Rangers had their second-fewest shots on goal with a net-front presence (three) and their third-fewest scoring chances from the slot (seven) in a game since the All-Star break.

A lot of the credit goes to Carolina’s defense, and the fact that the Rangers were not getting to their game … but give credit where it’s due: Andersen was better than expected in Game 5, both analytically and via the eye test.

Since joining the Hurricanes, Andersen is 7-1 at home with a .926 save percentage and a 1.80 goals-against average. But then, there’s a lot that goes right at home for Carolina.

Carolina at home

Rangers captain Jacob Trouba said building a 3-0 lead in a series has its advantages.

“Obviously we want to close out series, but we put ourselves in a position that we get a couple cracks at it,” he said after New York failed in its second attempt to close out the Hurricanes. “We played good games in Carolina. We know we can play in that building and we’ll go down there and bring a better game.”

The Rangers already have a win in Raleigh in this series, needing overtime to take Game 3. That’s rather notable, given how successful the Hurricanes have been at home under Brind’Amour in the playoffs: 26-12, the best postseason record of any team at home since 2018-19 (minimum 20 games). They’ve averaged 3.13 goals and 2.00 goals against (first in the NHL) during that stretch. Compare that to 2.60 goals and 3.43 goals against on the road. They’re a different team in Raleigh.

“I’m just proud of the group. They brought us another day,” said Brind’Amour, whose teams have gone 16-5 at home in the past three postseasons. “For our fans, it’s great. They deserved to see another game, and that’s what we gave them.”

That’s what the Rangers lost in losing Game 5: Not just the chance to eliminate the Hurricanes, but to avoid having to play in front of those raucous fans in Raleigh who share the same anxious optimism as their hockey heroes.

“We gave ourselves a chance to play another game to give ourselves a chance to hopefully come back here,” Martinook said after Game 5. “We’re fighting for our lives every game.”

The Rangers know what they need to do to snuff out that optimism before it builds to a crescendo in Game 7 on Saturday. They’re confident they can accomplish it.

‘We know that the fourth game is always the toughest one to win,” Trouba said. “It’s a team with their season on the line. We’ve got to find a way to match that level of intensity and desperation.”

And in the process, avoid becoming just the fifth team in NHL history to lose a series after building a 3-0 lead.