The Rangers looked in control through the first two periods of play in game one, limiting the action in front of a sharp Igor Shesterkin and holding a 1-0 lead on the road.
But as the third period neared the midway point, the ice began to tilt towards Shesterkin, and the Blueshirts began to show the look of a prevent defense rather than a group hunting for a fatal blow to the Hurricanes. What resulted was a game-tying goal by Sebastian Aho with less than three minutes left in regulation, and Carolina went on to steal game one in overtime.
After the game, Mika Zibanejad admitted that his group seemed to play on its heels for much of the final period.
"I thought we for the most part, half of that period, we played pretty well," Zibanejad said. "Then starting sitting back a little too much, maybe. But I thought we played great for the first 50."
The numbers back up Zibanejad's assessment. The Hurricanes fired off 19 shots in the third period compared to eight for the Rangers, though one of their shots in the third came from Kaapo Kakko, who missed a wide open net to sour what was a brilliant game by the youngster in the series opener.
But perhaps the Rangers could have found more chances for a putaway goal if they were more aggressive in the final period of regulation.
"We had some good chances to make it 2-0," Zibanejad said. "They got their push, they got their goal, and they won in overtime. But there's a lot of good things we can take with us from this game."
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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