Alexis Lafreniere tied the score at 3–3 for the Rangers at 2:04 of the third minute when he carried the puck under the goal line and fired a shot into the net off the back of Frederik Andersen.
“I was trying to come back and it didn’t work out at that time,” Anderson said. “That’s when your mental strength has to kick in and you move as quickly as you can and try to make the next save.”
The Rangers lead the best-of-7 series 3-1. Game 5 is Monday at New York (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVS, CBC).
Evgeny Kuznetsov, Stefan Noesen and Sebastian Aho scored, and Anderson made 22 saves for the Hurricanes, who are the No. 2 seed from the Metropolitan Division.
“For us, this might have been our least effective game overall out of the four (games) we’ve played,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “Hockey is weird. You get a bounce here or there or the shot that goes in, that’s what happens. But we live to fight another day. This is the most important thing.”
Will Cooley and Barclay Goodrow scored, and Igor Shesterkin made 27 saves for the Rangers, who are the No. 1 seed ahead of the Metropolitans.
New York defenseman Jacob Trueba said, “After a few breakdowns, they took advantage of their opportunities. We created some good chances. The power-play (goal) hurts at the end, but that’s hockey, move on. We’re in.” Going to Game 5.”
