Hurricanes beat Rangers 2-0 in Game 2 for 2-0 series lead

Brendan Smith scored a short-handed goal late in the second period while Antti Raanta finished with 21 saves to help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New York Rangers 2-0 on Friday night, taking a 2-0 lead in their second-round playoff series.

Smith’s goal off a feed from Sebastian Aho marked his first postseason goal in nine years, and it was the difference in a tightly defended game by both teams. Aho added a clinching empty-net score to finish this off with 1.8 seconds left as Raanta held up.

Carolina improved to 6-0 at home in the playoffs and has a 2-0 lead for the second straight round. Now they face the challenge of winning on the road for the first time in the postseason after claiming a seven-game first-round series against Boston in which no team managed a road win.

They’ll get their first chance to win at Madison Square Garden in Game 3 on Sunday.

Igor Shesterkin had 20 saves for the Rangers.

OILERS 5, FLAMES 3

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Zach Hyman scored the go-ahead short-handed goal midway through the third period and Edmonton rallied to beat Calgary and even the second-round series at one game apiece.

Edmonton captain Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist, becoming the fastest active player to reach 20 points (six goals, 14 assists in nine games) in a single postseason, and fastest among any player since Mario Lemieux in 1992.

Leon Draisaitl and defenseman Duncan Keith each had a goal and two assists and Evan Bouchard also scored for Edmonton. Mike Smith, pulled early in the last game, made 37 saves for the win and assisted on Draisaitl’s insurance goal.

Michael Stone, Brett Ritchie and Tyler Toffoli scored for Calgary. Johnny Gaudreau had two assists and Jacob Markstrom stopped 35 shots.

The best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal heads to Edmonton’s Rogers Place for Game 3 on Sunday.

___

More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports