The Caroline Hurricanes concluded a three-game sweep of the New York Rangers in the Stanley Cup qualifier round in Toronto on Tuesday.
Despite another very strong performance by their young goaltender of the future, Igor Shestyorkin, the Rangers lost by a score of 4-1 in Game 3 of the qualifier.
The go-ahead goal came on a shot by Brady Skjei, a former Ranger, that Warren Foegele deflected past Shesterkin to take a 2-1 lead in the third period. The game was sealed with a beautiful goal by Carolina’s Sebastian Aho and an empty-netter by Tony DeAngelo in the last minute of the contest.
The young Rangers team made a lot of strides in the second half of the season but were ultimately no match for a more seasoned Carolina team, one that made it to Eastern Conference finals last year.
On the positive side, the defeat gives the Rangers a much better shot of coming away with the first overall pick in the 2020 draft. New York now has a 12.5% chance of landing the first pick in the second round of the lottery, which will take place on August 10.
