Hurricanes 4, Rangers 3
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Victor Rask's power-play goal capped a rally that lifted the Carolina Hurricanes to a 4-3 victory over the New York Rangers on Thursday night at PNC Arena.
At 9:06 of the third period, Rask shot into an open side of the net when Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist couldn't recover in time to make a stop, snapping a 3-3 tie. Carolina scored the only two third-period goals.
Patrick Brown's first NHL goal along with goals from Justin Faulk and Jeff Skinner gave Carolina clutch offense.
Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward made 24 saves.
Carolina (34-28-16) is clinging to slim playoff hopes. The Hurricanes sit five points behind the Philadelphia Flyers, who currently occupy the second Eastern Conference wild-card position.
Mats Zuccarello, Rich Nash and Chris Kreider scored for the Rangers (43-25-9), who won the previous nine meetings against the Hurricanes.
Lundqvist finished with 24 saves.
Skinner scored the tying goal with 15:38 remaining, redirecting a blast from defenseman Ryan Murphy.
The Rangers dropped to 27-2-2 this season when leading after two periods.
The game was notable because of the return of center Eric Staal, who played 909 games with the Hurricanes before he was traded to the Rangers at the end of February.
A video tribune for Staal was played during the first timeout of the game. He received a standing ovation from fans of both teams.
The Rangers scored three goals in the second period to grab a 3-2 lead.
Kreider scored the go-ahead goal 24 seconds into a power play after Carolina defenseman Ron Hainsey was called for hooking.
Brown's first career goal came courtesy of a convenient ricochet of the puck when Skinner sent a delivery toward the corner. Brown was alone when the puck bounced out.
Brown, who was pointless in 10 previous career games, was playing in his fourth game of the season.
In the second period, Zuccarello scored from about the same spot on the ice as Brown, though his degree of difficulty was quite a bit higher. Zuccarello took a pass from Derek Stepan and rifled a shot that skipped off Ward's shoulder and into the net.
Nash's goal came as he was tangled with Carolina defenseman Brett Pesce, still managing to dislodge enough to fire a shot from the left side.
Suddenly, the Rangers held a 2-1 lead despite putting up only nine shots.
Carolina pulled even when Faulk scored with 6:33 left in the second period. It was the Hurricanes' second shot of the period. Faulk, who missed more than a month with an injury before a mid-March return, hadn't scored since Feb. 5.
One of the assists went to left winger Sergey Tolchinsky, who was making his NHL debut.
The Hurricanes produced the game's first seven shots on net, but none of those resulted in a goal.
Carolina, though, went without a shot for the first 10 minutes of the second period.
NOTES: Rangers C Eric Staal's return for his first game as a visitor drew considerable pregame attention and brought a buzz to the crowd. He was the Hurricanes' captain until the trade-deadline deal about a month ago. ... LW Sergey Tolchinsky, a 21-year-old Russian, made his NHL debut for Carolina after he was called up from the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League. ... Entering the game, a Rangers defenseman had earned at least one point on 33 of the team's last 49 goals. ... The Rangers return home to face Buffalo on Saturday. The Hurricanes are home on Saturday night against Columbus.