New York Rangers coach Gerard Gallant upset with Game 3 'cheap shot' from Carolina Hurricanes

NEW YORK — If the Carolina Hurricanes were looking to send a message after their Game 3 loss, New York Rangers coach Gerard Gallant cautioned that they might not like the response.

«I wasn't happy with the bulls--t at the end of the game that they initiated,» Gallant said after the Rangers' 3-1 win on Sunday that cut Carolina's lead to 2-1 in their second-round series. «We didn't do that when the games were close. They put their guys out. That's fine. If they want to play like that, we've got the guys that can match them.»

As the buzzer sounded to end Game 3, Carolina forward Max Domi gave Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren a cross-check in New York's zone. Lindgren responded with a slash on Domi. That brought all the players on the ice together, with Lindgren wrestling Domi to the ice in a headlock.

Meanwhile, at the benches, Gallant could be seen angrily yelling at Hurricanes defenseman Tony DeAngelo as the players left the ice. DeAngelo, whose contract was bought out by the Rangers last summer after a series of behavioral issues, was booed by the Madison Square Garden fans and targeted with derogatory chants throughout the game.

Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said he wasn't aware that Gallant was jawing at one of his players. As for the incident with Domi after the buzzer, he said, «I didn't really see what happened so I can't comment on it.»

Gallant saw it clearly from the Rangers' bench and bemoaned what he thought was an attempt at message-sending by the Hurricanes ahead of Tuesday's Game 4 in New York.

«The game is over. They're not sending any message. We've got the guy that can handle all their guys if we want to. We didn't do it like that,» Gallant said in a not-very-veiled reference to New York enforcer Ryan