Rangers show just how good they are in series-clinching comeback

The New York Rangers pulled off one of the biggest comebacks of the year Thursday night, down 3-0 to the Carolina Hurricanes and storming back to win 5-3, also securing a 4-2 series victory. The Blueshirts of Broadway now advance to the Eastern Conference Final, where they’ll face one of the Boston Bruins or Florida Panthers.

On Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk discuss the Rangers’ comeback win over the Hurricanes, and how they would measure up against one of their potential opponents in the next round.

Tyler Yaremchuk: I was watching the third period of last night’s game and thought, “It’s 3-0 Hurricanes, we’re getting a seventh game,” then as I’m watching, the cheers in the bar got louder and louder. People were excited to see the comeback effort from the Rangers, led by Chris Kreider’s fifth, sixth and seventh goals of the postseason, coming just nine minutes apart for the rare natural hat trick. Kreider was clutch and the Rangers are moving on.

I said Thursday, and I was wrong in saying this, is it going to be an Igor Shesterkin-steal-it-or-nothing moment. You said I was wrong not giving the Rangers credit, and you were right! That offense put the pedal to the metal in the third period.

Frank Seravalli: They’re a really good team. They battle, and now if you were to size up them with the Florida Panthers and ask who has the edge, I think the Rangers are slightly more skilled, the Panthers are slightly bigger and more physical, the Rangers have the better backend and goalie, although Sergei Bobrovsky’s been good.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves: the point being, this Rangers team is a force to be reckoned with. They were a team that won the Presidents’ Trophy, and people wondered how realistic their Stanley Cup chances were. But they’ve had some late-game magic to them that makes them captivating to watch, and they’re going to be a handful for whoever they play in the Eastern Conference Final.

Peter Laviolette’s teams win in the postseason. There’s something to the magic he’s able to create, and they’ve got a little bit of that in them.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…