NHL Rink Wrap: Oilers take commanding 3-1 lead; Hurricanes’ road woes

Jacob Trouba delivered another massive hit, Frank Vatrano scored a power play goal after the ensuing madness, and Igor Shesterkin stopped 30 shots to help the New York Rangers even their Second Round series with the Carolina Hurricanes at two games apiece. Even though the first two games were mostly close on the scoreboard, the Rangers looked like a team that was going to have a difficult time keeping up with Carolina in this series. But just as they did in the First Round, the Rangers have managed to crawl back just when they looked defeated and draw even in the series.

The big issue for Carolina is its inability to win a game away from home.

The Hurricanes are now 0-5 away from Raleigh this postseason and 6-0 on home ice. That makes home-ice advantage pretty significant, but at some point they are going to have to win a game or two away from home.

The Edmonton Oilers might have their flaws, but on any given night they have the best player on the ice and that will always give them a chance. And now they are just one win away from reaching the Western Conference Final  thanks to their 5-3 win over the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Evander Kane both scored two goals, while Connor McDavid had two more assists to increase his lead in the playoff scoring race. Edmonton jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, watched it slip away, and then finally jumped back ahead in the third period.

You have to give the Oilers a lot of credit here because Calgary’s game-tying goal in the third period was, well, just watch….

It was only two minutes later that Nugent-Hopkins put the Oilers back in front for good.

Nugent-Hopkins has to be an X-factor for the Oilers. You know McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are going to produce,