RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Artemi Panarin scored four goals, three in the third period, to help the New York Rangers blow the game open late and beat the Carolina Hurricanes 6-2 on Saturday night.
Mika Zibanejad had a power-play goal in the first period and Kaapo Kakko added an empty-net score for the Rangers. Vincent Trocheck added two assists to help stop his former team's seven-game winning streak.
Jaroslav Halak finished with 27 saves in his seventh consecutive victory for the Rangers, who won their fifth straight game and pushed their point streak to seven games.
But it was Panarin who was the star, from scoring the go-ahead goal off a rebound at 4:33 of the third period to securing his first hat trick since 2019 on a breakaway at 15:59 before adding another one from the slot with 64 seconds left.
It was his first multigoal game this season and fourth career hat trick — second with the Rangers. Panarin also had an assist for his first five-point game since last March 12 at Dallas (one goal, four assists).
Teuvo Teravainen and Jesperi Kotkaniemi both scored in the second for the Hurricanes, who carried a 10-game point streak out of the All-Star break. Carolina hadn’t lost since falling at home to Vancouver in a Jan. 15 shootout.
Frederik Andersen stopped 13 of 18 shots in the loss.
The matchup paired teams that squared off in two of the past three postseasons. The first came in the Toronto bubble in 2020, a series Carolina won easily. The second saw the Rangers win on the Hurricanes' home ice to close out a tough second-round series in Game 7 last May.
Now the Rangers have won both meetings this season.
Panarin pushed the Rangers ahead 3-2 when he put away a loose rebound on Braden Schneider’s shot early in the third. Then, after K'Andre Miller forced Sebastian Aho into a turnover, Panarin collected the loose puck and charged up ice to beat Andersen at the 15:59 mark.
Panarin scored his first goal with a transition chance off a Carolina turnover, taking a feed from Trocheck and burying a 2-on-1 chance past Andersen’s glove at 17:49 of the second to tie the game 2-all after Carolina had begun to build control of the game.
His fourth goal came when he took a feed from Jimmy Vesey along the boards and scored from the slot, spinning back toward the middle against Carolina's Calvin De Haan to beat Andersen one final time.
FAMILIAR FACES
It marked a notable meeting for two players facing their former team.
First there was Trocheck, who left Carolina to sign with New York in the offseason and was playing his first game since in Raleigh. The Hurricanes had acquired Trocheck in 2020 shortly before the COVID-19 shutdown, and he became a vital piece as a two-way center.
Trocheck received warm applause when acknowledged on the bench during a first-period stoppage, offering a wave to the crowd.
Carolina forward Jesper Fast appeared in his 600th NHL game, coming against the team that drafted him. Fast played his first 422 games with New York before signing with Carolina in 2020.
UP NEXT
Rangers: At Vancouver on Wednesday.
Hurricanes: At Washington on Tuesday.
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Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap
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