Svechnikov hat-trick leads the Hurricanes past the Rangers

The Hurricanes are now a win away from advancing to the next round of the NHL playoffs. Rising superstar Andrei Svechnikov scored three goals becoming the first player to produce a playoff hat trick in franchise history. Petr Mrazek was a monster in the net stopping a couple of pointblank shots in the first period.

Like they did in game 1, Carolina with a strong start. Just four and a half minutes into the 1st period, Svechnikov goes up and over Henrik Lundqvist for the opening tally. Luck certainly a part of this goal as the pass from Sebastian Aho was deflected right onto the stick of Svech. His magical day just getting started.

Unable to feed off the fans in this neutral site game, Mrazek found some inner super powers. He made a dazzling glove save robbing Brett Howden with 11:48 left to play in the 1st period and followed that up with another beauty off the blade of the ever dangerous Mika Zibanejad who was all alone in front.

The Hurricanes special teams delivered again in the 2nd period. Off a draw at the start of this power play, the 20-year-old Svechnikov with an absolute blast for his 2nd of the game.

Just over a minute later, the 4th line working hard in front to the net and it pays off. Jordan Martinook with his first career playoff goal to make it 3-1. That set the stage for Svechnikov who scored for the third time at 14:02 in the 3rd. The Canes can wrap up the series tomorrow night in game 3 which is scheduled to start at 8pm.