The New York Rangers missed the next match point in the playoffs of the North American professional ice hockey league NHL and missed an early entry into the semi-finals.
Head coach Peter Laviolette’s team lost 1:4 against the Carolina Hurricanes, who moved to 2:3 in the best-of-seven series and have home advantage in the sixth game. Jacob Trouba initially gave the Rangers the lead in front of their home crowd (27th). But the Hurricanes averted the early exit in the third period. Jordan Staal (44th), Yevgeny Kuznetsov (47th), Jordan Martinook (50th) and Martin Necas (57th) scored the four goals for Carolina.
Conference semifinals arrow right
Colorado loses without Nichushkin
The Dallas Stars also celebrated an important victory. At the Colorado Avalanche, head coach Peter DeBoer’s team clearly won 5-1 and is thus on course for the round of the last four. The Texans extended their lead in the series to 3-1. The Canadian Wyatt Johnston shone with a brace (16th/26th) and an assist. Miro Heiskanen (32nd), Yevgeni Dadonow (49th) and Sam Steel (59th) also scored for Dallas. Casey Mittelstadt (33rd) scored the only goal for the Avalanche.
However, Colorado was without one of its most important players just under an hour before the game. The NHL announced that forward Valery Nichushkin has been accepted into the Player Assistance Program – a program for players to combat substance abuse and mental health issues. Under the terms, he was suspended without pay for at least six months. He has scored the most goals for the Avalanche in the playoffs with nine goals so far.