Warren Foegele scored the go-ahead goal in the third period, and goalie James Reimer made 38 saves in his series debut as the Carolina Hurricanes swept their best-of-five qualifying series against the New York Rangers by winning 4-1 in Game 3 on Tuesday night in Toronto.
The Hurricanes advance to the Eastern Conference's first round against an undetermined opponent, beginning that best-of-seven series next week.
The Rangers had won at least one game in each of their past 21 playoff series. New York managed a total of four goals in the just-concluded series.
Teuvo Teravainen provided Carolina's first goal, and Sebastian Aho's two goals -- the latter into an empty net -- padded the lead across the final 10 minutes.
Chris Kreider scored for the Rangers, who swept four regular-season games from the Hurricanes.
Foegele tallied the tiebreaking goal with 14:53 left by tipping in a delivery from former Rangers defenseman Brady Skjei. A February trade with New York had sent Skjei to the Hurricanes.
Both teams went with different goalies in Game 3, which came about 29 hours after the conclusion of Game 2.
Reimer had a few stretches when he made sterling saves to thwart potential New York momentum.
Rookie Igor Shesterkin made 27 stops for the Rangers in his postseason debut.
Reimer was peppered with 14 shots during a scoreless first period, when Carolina produced just six shots.
Kreider burst through the neutral zone and ended up with a breakaway, scoring 12 seconds into the second period for the Rangers, who took their only lead in the series.
Slightly more than three minutes after the New York goal, Teravainen scored for the Hurricanes. Teravainen took a pass from Game 2 star Andrei Svechnikov, and Aho also was credited with an assist on the play. Rangers defenseman Marc Staal had lost his stick, providing an opening for Carolina.
--Field Level Media
Carolina | NY Rangers | |
Sebastian Aho 3 | Points | Chris Kreider 1 |
Sebastian Aho 2 | Goals | Chris Kreider 1 |
Sebastian Aho 1 | Assists | Ryan Strome 1 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | N/A |
Sebastian Aho 1 | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
James Reimer .974 | Save Percentage | Igor Shesterkin .900 |
James Reimer 37 | Saves | Igor Shesterkin 27 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Carolina | 31 | 4 | 0-3 | 3-3 | 6 | 34 |
NY Rangers | 38 | 1 | 0-3 | 3-3 | 6 | 33 |