RALEIGH, N.C. — A win Monday over the struggling St. Louis Blues was nice, and stopped a four-game losing streak.
But a win over the 14-7-2 Carolina Hurricanes? Now that’s impressive.
Igor Shesterkin made 36 saves and Vincent Trocheck’s goal 45 seconds into the third period was the difference as the Rangers beat the Hurricanes, 4-2, in Lenovo Center Wednesday. It was the Blueshirts’ second straight victory and lifted them back above NHL .500 at 12-11-2.
The Rangers were outshot in each period, including 14-5 in the third, but Shesterkin came up with key saves when needed.
Noah Laba, Artemi Panarin and Will Cuylle (into an empty net) had the other goals for the Rangers, and while they aren’t in a playoff spot on Thanksgiving (since 2005-06, 77.1% of teams in a position on Thanksgiving have made the playoffs) at least they feel as though they’ve gotten their game back to where they want it to be.
“I thought we played pretty well tonight,’’ said Trocheck, a former Hurricanes’ player. “They’re obviously really hard to play against. One of the best in league. They’re always on top of you, so it gets frustrating at times. But I think that’s the way they beat a lot of teams, is they frustrate them to death. And I thought we did a good job staying with it and playing our game. I thought we were even better in the third (period), so hopefully we can continue this.’’
“We’re playing with more structure (and) I think we’re playing with better intentions,’’ coach Mike Sullivan said. “We’ve got numbers back, and I think that’s the game that’s going to give us the best chance to win.
“When we play a simplified version of ourselves, I think that’s when our team’s at its best,’’ he continued. “And so the last handful, I think we’ve certainly, at least got the identity of the of the group in the right spot.’’
J.T. Miller returned to the lineup after missing two games with an upper-body injury as the Rangers faced former teammate K’Andre Miller for the first time since he was traded to the Hurricanes over the summer. K’Andre Miller missed the first game between the teams, Nov. 4 at Madison Square Garden, with an injury.
J.T. Miller said he felt “pretty good’’ in his first game back since last Thursday in Colorado. He played 18 minutes, and had an assist on Panarin’s goal that put the Rangers in front late in the second period.
“I definitely tried to keep myself out of some certain situations, but I think for the most part, I felt pretty good,’’ he said. “I felt like I could contribute without taking too much away from the game.’’
Panarin scored on a one-timer with 64 seconds left in the second, off a set play on an offensive zone faceoff, to break a 1-1 tie and give the Rangers a 2-1 lead. Then, he set up Trocheck’s goal, on a pretty centering pass to the late-arriving Trocheck for a one-timer from the top of the slot.
“Obviously, it’s a big goal at the end of the second, on the road,’’ J.T. Miller said. “Having that lead going in, it gives you all that little bit more confidence… And then in the third, that’s a big time play. I think you have two or three guys on him, and it’s what he’s capable of. You know, those are situations where, when you need us guys to step up and make a play right there, to give us a little breathing room in that game, that’s what he did.’’
The win kicked off a two-game Thanksgiving Week road trip that continues in Boston Friday afternoon, and it ended a three-game road losing streak and improved the Rangers’ road record to 10-4-1.
Seth Jarvis’ goal, at 10:53 of the period, pulled the Hurricanes within 3-2, but Cuylle scored into the empty net from behind his own blue line with 1:43 remaining to provide insurance. The Rangers then had to kill a roughing penalty to J.T. Miller with 1:07 remaining to escape, but the penalty kill, which went 4-for-5, did the job.
Carolina pulled goalie Freddie Andersen to give themselves a 6-on-4 advantage, but Shesterkin made three saves to preserve the victory.
“Obviously, it’s tough when you take that many penalties against a team like this,’’ Sullivan said. “That certainly didn’t help tonight. But obviously, Shesty made some huge saves for us.’’
Notes & quotes: Forward Juuso Parssinen cleared waivers and was assigned to AHL Hartford . . . Conor Sheary was scratched for the first time this season . . . D Will Borgen missed his fourth straight game with an upper-body injury . . . D Connor Mackey was called up from Hartford, but scratched.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.