It was the save of the night, and it wasn’t even a Hurricanes goaltender that kept what looked like a sure Rangers goal out of the net.
Winger Jordan Martinook managed to swipe the puck off the goal line and out of harm’s way, preventing the Blueshirts from pulling back within one in the second period of Game 6 on Thursday night in Raleigh, N.C.
The miraculous play occurred with just under seven minutes left in the second period after Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren broke free for a breakaway and backhanded the puck through the legs of Canes starting netminder Frederik Andersen.
The puck slowly rolled through Andersen and looked as if it would get over the line, but a diving Martinook managed to swipe the puck at the last second keeping it from crossing the line.
The Hurricanes iced the puck in order to clear the danger away, but the shocked PNC Arena crowd was ecstatic over what they had just seen.
Andersen then gave Martinook a couple of stick taps as the forward was down one knee trying to catch his breath. Â
It was a tough break for the Rangers, who have hoped to close out the series on Thursday night and book a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals.
They instead found themselves looking at the possibility of having to go to a Game 7.
The Rangers trailed 3-1 at the time of the diving effort from Martinook and were down by that same score after two periods.
Chris Kreider scored at the 6:43 mark in the third period to cut the Rangers’ deficit to one.
He scored two more in the third period to lead the Rangers to a 5-3 series-clinching comeback win in Game 6.
Martin Necas scored the opening goal with 1:22 left in the period off a pass behind the net from Martinook.
Seth Jarvis made it 2-0 for Carolina less than five minutes into the second period, but Vincent Trocheck was quick to respond with a goal to keep it a one-goal game.
Sebastian Aho scored at the 9:23 mark to put the Hurricanes back in front by two.