Vincent Trocheck wins it in overtime, 4-3, as Rangers take 2-0 series lead vs. Hurricanes

NEW YORK — Vincent Trocheck scored on the power play 7:23 into the second overtime to give the New York Rangers a 4-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes and take a 2-0 lead in the series as it heads to Raleigh for Game 3 on Thursday.

The Hurricanes were battling history at that point: Going into the second OT, they were 0-3 all time in playoff games in which they recorded 50 or more shots (the Hurricanes had a 52-37 shot advantage after the first OT) and 1-6 in multiple-OT playoff games since relocation.

Both teams had their chances in the first overtime period, with Frederik Andersen stopping Mika Zibanejad late in the period after the Hurricanes failed to score on a power play midway through overtime.

Jake Guentzel scored twice, Andrei Svechnikov bounced back from a bad early penalty and Sebastian Aho assisted on all three Carolina goals in regulation before Chris Kreider’s power-play goal midway through the third erased a one-goal Carolina lead and left the outcome up in the air in the final minutes.

Guentzel’s second was pure skill, with Aho shrugging off hits in the corner before feeding a cutting Guentzel in the slot for a snap shot with a borderline no-look pass late in the second.

Dmitry Orlov’s tip of a Brady Skjei shot late in the first period gave the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead at the first intermission after Alexei Lafreniere got the Rangers on the board early when a K’Andre Miller shot hit Jesperi Kotkaniemi in front and bounced to Lafreniere at the left circle. Lafreniere beat Andersen high to the short side.

The Hurricanes evened things up with Guentzel’s first non-empty-net goal of the playoffs, tipping an Aho shot between his legs and past Igor Shesterkin. Svechnikov set it up with a strong move from behind the net to atone for his earlier penalty tripping Shesterkin behind the net.

The Hurricanes killed that one, their first successful penalty kill of the series, with Andersen making a point-blank glove save on Zibanejad.

In the final minute of the period, with the teams skating four-on-four, Orlov got his second of the playoffs by deflecting Skjei’s shot as he lost Adam Fox and cut to the net with 5.4 seconds left in the period and the Hurricanes’ first lead of the series.

Lafreniere got his second of the game midway through the second to even the score, putting home a Fox feed on the rush. Things got chippy after that, with Guentzel shrugging off a punch from Fox in a scrum and landing a straight shot to the chops that dropped Fox in a heap. The officials caught Guentzel, nullifying a Carolina power play.