Lucky bounces these were not. Andrei Svechnikov scored three capital-G GOALS Monday afternoon in the Carolina Hurricanes’ 4-1 victory over the New York Rangers in Game 2 of their qualifying-round series.
The first: a short-side snipe over goalie Henrik Lundqvist’s right shoulder.
The second: a knuckleballing one-timer just under the crossbar.
The third: burying a precision pass from Sebastian Aho into a yawning cage.
The hat trick was the first of Svechnikov’s career and the first in Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes playoff history, a stretch spanning 143 games and 14 previous post-season appearances. Svechnikov scored on all three of his shots and added six hits in a physically dominating performance.