Saturday night (May 11) in Raleigh, North Carolina had a sense of tension and nervousness in the air. The Carolina Hurricanes were on the brink of elimination down 3-0 against the New York Rangers in the second round of the 2024 NHL Playoffs. It was win-or-go-home for the team that has won six straight first-round matchups. No one expected the Hurricanes to be in this position. The NHL’s odds-on favorite to win the Stanley Cup at the beginning of the 2023-24 season struggled through the series’ first three games versus the Rangers. Coming into Game 4, Carolina was 0-for-15 on the powerplay and seemed to have no idea how to right the course.
Analysts and fans around the league and in Raleigh were wondering if they had what it takes to win Game 4 and at least force a Game 5 back in New York on Monday night (May 13). However, as soon the puck dropped, it was clear that the Hurricanes were not going to roll over and in the end, they survived to force another game back in Manhattan. They went on to defeat the Rangers 4-3 in a very do-or-die must-win game after a huge goal on the powerplay from one of their defenseman. What did the clutch powerplay goal from Brady Skjei mean for the Hurricanes moving forward in the series?
Hey, Hey What Do You Skjei
The Hurricanes were on the powerplay after the Rangers’ Ryan Lindgren was called for a tripping penalty. It was Carolina’s second and final powerplay of the game. They did not capitalize on the first man advantage but did have more chances than they had in the first three games. At this point, they were 0-for-16 and just needed something from the struggling powerplay to light something for those units. Head coach Rod Brind’Amour before the game switched around the units swapping out Brent Burns and Brady Skjei between PP1 and PP2 with Skjei going to the top unit. In the end, it proved to work and provide the spark needed for the powerplay.
Related: Hurricanes Hold Off Rangers in Game 4 to Avoid Elimination
In a mini-game of keep away, Teuvo Teravainen and Skeji were passing the puck to each other at the top of the Rangers zone. As time went on, Teravainen saw that Skeji had a better shooting lane and sauced him a puck right into his wheelhouse. Skeji wound up his stick and ripped a slapshot onto the net. As mentioned earlier, the Hurricanes needed to get to the front of the net to create a net-front presence to take away Igor Shesterkin’s eyes. Up to that point, he was seeing everything from the Hurricanes…
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