Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 27: Rangers advance to Eastern Conference Final after Kreider’s hat trick sparks comeback

The Carolina Hurricanes looked to continue their reverse sweep, while the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers looked to get the edge in their series during Thursday’s Stanley Cup Playoff action.

Kreider’s hat trick rallies Rangers from down 3-1 to finally eliminate Canes

It feels like we’ve been watching a whole new Carolina Hurricanes team since they went down 3-0 in their series against the New York Rangers. Before it felt like they just couldn’t get the bounces, while in Games 4 and 5, it felt like an overwhelming inevitability that they’d get back in the game. But could they continue that for the second half of a potential reverse sweep?

It certainly started out that way, as they got the first two goals of the game. Martin Necas opened the scoring with 82 seconds left in the first period, and then Seth Jarvis made it 2-0 Canes 4:38 into the second. However, Vincent Trocheck scored just 51 seconds later to keep the game within one goal.

This seemingly rejuvenated Canes team did a couple things after Trocheck’s goal that continued the hope of coming back in this series. First, Sebastian Aho regained the two-goal lead four minutes after the goal to make it 3-1, and then just when it seemed like the Rangers were going to counter again with a breakaway goal from Ryan Lindgren that trickled through Frederik Andersen, Jordan Martinook may have made the save of the postseason, and on the goal line no less.

JORDAN MARTINOOK JUST MADE THE SAVE OF THE PLAYOFFS 😱 pic.twitter.com/feWG0RTYVc

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 17, 2024

But, the Rangers weren’t going to be stopped so easily, and who else but Chris Kreider to lead the charge in the third period. The Rangers winger jammed home a loose puck to cut the lead in half, deflected a shot from Artemi Panarin on the power play to tie the game, and then tapped home a puck from the slot, and suddenly the Rangers had a 4-3 lead in less than nine minutes after being down by two goals.

CHRIS KREIDER HAT TRICK 🤯

THE RANGERS HAVE TAKEN THE LEAD WITH 4:19 LEFT 🚨 pic.twitter.com/eBvbGP9EGx

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 17, 2024

Suddenly, the Canes season was on the line again, and they only had four minutes left to save it. They pushed to get the game tied, but Igor Shesterkin stood tall, and Barclay Goodrow sealed the deal with an empty net goal. The Rangers took the game 5-3, and finally end the series at 4-2, all thanks to the hat trick from Kreider.

The Rangers advance to the second round for the second time in three seasons, doing so in 2022 by also besting the Canes in the second round. They will face either the Florida Panthers or the Boston Bruins, with the Panthers currently leading their series 3-2. Carolina sees their season end in the second round for the third time in four seasons, and now has now only advanced to the Conference Finals in two of the six seasons during their current playoff streak.

Miller’s last-minute goal gives Canucks 3-2 series lead

This series between the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers has been close all series, and that was no different for Game 5. Evander Kane started off the action with a goal only 4:34 into the game with a shot from a sharp angle that snuck past Arturs Silovs.

It wasn’t until late in the first that both teams got on the board again. First, Carson Soucy, who was back in the lineup after his one-game suspension, got a bit of redemption by pouncing on a loose puck and firing it past Calvin Pickard to tie the game. But it took only 23 seconds for the Oilers to take the lead again, as they finally got a goal from their fourth line in this series courtesy of Mattias Janmark. The second period just saw a tying goal from Phillip Di Giuseppe jumping on a turnover in front, and this game was tied 2-2 for the third period.

Both teams played it tight in the third period, and as the clock wound down, it seemed like we were going to get overtime. But this series also has seen some buzzer beaters, and it turns out that that’s what we were going to get. Elias Lindholm threw the puck on net, and J.T. Miller was there to bury the rebound and give the Canucks the go-ahead goal with 32 seconds left.

32 seconds wasn’t enough time for the Oilers to tie the game again, and the Canucks would take the game 3-2 and also take a 3-2 series lead, with a chance to move on to the Western Conference Final in Game 6.