NEW YORK — Rangers coach Gerard Gallant was not the least bit interested in looking at Tuesday night’s game at Madison Square Garden against the Carolina Hurricanes as a potential first-round playoff series preview.
“Honestly, for me, no, I just want to keep playing well,’’ Gallant said after his team’s morning skate at their Greenburgh, N.Y. practice facility. “You talk about getting two points every night, and where you end up in the standings, you end up in the standings.’’
Carolina rallied from down a goal in the third period, scoring three times in the final period to beat the Rangers 3-2, ending the Rangers’ four-game win streak and their seven-game point streak when Teuvo Teravainen redirected a shot/pass from Brent Burns at 17:27 of the period.
The Rangers completed their five-game homestand 4-1, and they will play the Hurricanes again Thursday night in Raleigh, North Carolina in the final game of the teams’ four-game, regular-season series.
Jalen Chatfield’s goal, at 9:49 of the third period, erased a 1-0 Rangers lead and broke a shutout streak of 120 minutes and 40 seconds by Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin, who was last scored on by Pittsburgh’s Jake Guentzel at 9:09 of the third period in Thursday’s 4-2 win over the Penguins.
Kaapo Kakko restored the Rangers’ lead 31 seconds later, banging in a rebound at 10:20 for his 13th goal of the season, and his first since Feb. 25, ending a drought of 11 games. But 18 seconds after that, Stefan Noesen somehow got free in the low slot area and was wide open to bang in a feed from ex-Ranger Jesper Fast to tie it, 2-2.
Tyler Motte’s third goal in four games, at 17 minutes of the first period, had given the Rangers a lead after a first period in which the Rangers largely outplayed the visitors. But Carolina began to take control of the play in the second, spending long stretches of time in the Rangers’ zone.
The Blueshirts entered Tuesday streaking – including 6-0 and 7-0 thrashings of Pittsburgh and Nashville in the last two – and six of the last seven overall. The Rangers got defenseman Ryan Lindgren back Tuesday, after he’d missed 11 games with a shoulder injury.
Lindgren was back in his usual spot on the top defense pair, with his regular partner Adam Fox. But he had a scare late in the second period when he extended his left arm to impede Fast and was called for a holding penalty.
That was the least of his worries, though. A bigger concern was that he appeared to feel a twinge in the shoulder and he went to the box hunched over in discomfort, then left the ice for the dressing room. He returned to the ice after his penalty was over and was able to play in the third period.
The Rangers entered Tuesday in third place in the division, five points behind the second-place Devils and six behind first-place Carolina. The second- and third-place teams in the division meet in the first round, so the Rangers and Hurricanes would meet if the Devils (who lost to the Minnesota Wild in overtime Tuesday) pass Carolina and win the division, and then the Hurricanes and Rangers end up second and third.
“At the end of the day, you're going to play a real good team [in the playoffs],’’ Gallant said. “So that doesn't really matter. Honestly, as long as we get into the playoffs — that's the first goal — and then where you end up, you're going to play a real good team. It doesn't matter who it is. So just keep playing well and get points.’’
