For over 87 minutes, nothing separated the Rangers and the Hurricanes on the scoreboard. It took until 7:24 of the fifth period for a hard fought Game 2 to be decided.

Vincent Trocheck’s power-play goal at 87:24 gave the Rangers a 4-3 win over the Hurricanes to put them up two games to none. The second round series shifts to Carolina for the next two starting on Thursday.

They wouldn’t be in this position without the brilliant play of Igor Shesterkin. He was remarkable stopping 54 of 57 shots to earn the game’s first star. It was Shesterkin who made a big difference. He made clutch saves throughout to give the Rangers a chance for another comeback win.

In a game that the Hurricanes dictated the terms with their strong puck possession style, they were unable to earn a split at a loud Madison Square Garden. Aside from being turned away by Shesterkin on several great scoring chances, it was their power play that doomed them. They went 0 for 5.

Conversely, the Blueshirts went 2 for 7. Both the tying and winning goals came on the man-advantage. After failing to take Jake Guentzel with less than two minutes left in the second period on the Canes’ go-ahead goal, Chris Kreider redeemed himself. He steered in a rebound of a Vincent Trocheck shot to tie the game with 13:54 remaining in the third period.

Despite the Canes holding a 17-9 edge in shots, they never could beat Shesterkin in the third. He was a brick wall. Late in regulation with the Rangers on the power play, he stoned Seth Jarvis shorthanded to push the game to overtime.

Even with Carolina applying heavy pressure, they never solved Shesterkin in sudden death. He made the big saves. That included coming out to stop Sebastian Aho on a Canes’ power play. When Andrei Svechnikov swatted at his glove, Shesterkin reacted by chopping his stick. It was a strong message.

The Rangers killed off two penalties in overtime. They first got the job done with captain Jacob Trouba off for the third time in the first overtime. Early in the second OT, it was Artemi Panarin in the box for denying Martin Necas a scoring chance by hooking him. It was a good penalty.

After the tentative Canes were stifled by the disciplined four-man penalty killing unit, it felt like the Rangers had survived. It wasn’t like they didn’t have chances to win it in the first OT. Frederik Andersen made a few big saves, including on Jack Roslovic, Mika Zibanejad, and Alexis Lafreniere, who came close to getting his first postseason hat trick.

On a play involving Vincent Trocheck, he tried to skate around Brady Skjei inside the Hurricanes’ blue line and went down. Skjei was called for cross-checking. A night removed from the Knicks benefiting from a botched kick ball in an exhilarating Game 1 win over the Pacers, someone was smiling down on MSG.

When Mark Messier indicated that he didn’t agree with the call following Trocheck’s emotional overtime winner, he had a good point. The replay showed that Skjei shoved Trocheck down. There was contact. But it looked clean. The Rangers took advantage of a gift to pull out the victory.

Trocheck won the game thanks to some good work from Panarin and Mika Zibanejad. After taking a Panarin feed, Zibanejad took a shot from a tough angle that rebounded in front right to Trocheck, who put the puck past Andersen – sending The Garden into a frenzy. Here’s how it looked and sounded.

Despite being outshot 57-39, the Rangers held serve at home. They were outplayed by a more determined Hurricanes. But it didn’t matter. Even with Trocheck having an off night on faceoffs, losing 21 of 34, they found a way to win. Zibanejad was better on draws, going 16 for 25. So too was Alex Wennberg, who went 9 for 16.

For the Canes, Aho had a big game. He assisted on all three goals and went 18 for 30 on faceoffs. However, with a chance to win the game in the first overtime, he was robbed by Shesterkin. Along with Jake Guentzel and Svechnikov, the top line was in the Rangers’ zone often. Guentzel had two goals, and Svechnikov added an assist.

However, Svechnikov also took two bad penalties. That included sticking out his leg and tripping an incensed Shesterkin behind his net, which led to a scrum. Svechnikov also negated a power play for the second straight game. His lack of discipline hurt the Canes.

As often happens in these games, it’s the team that comes out fast that winds up getting scored on. The Canes were the aggressor. Shesterkin kept them off the scoreboard early.

With the Rangers looking a bit sluggish, Will Cuylle took the puck to the net and forced Andersen into a tough save. But he then knocked him over to go off for goalie interference. The Canes were unable to cash in.

Halfway through the opening period, Wennberg made a good play on the forecheck to get the puck to K’Andre Miller. With the Canes in scramble mode, Miller moved the puck to Lafreniere. He saw Wennberg screening Andersen in front. Lafreniere wisely shot and beat Andersen high to the short side for his first of the postseason at 10:53.

Andersen couldn’t see the puck. He was also screened by a diving Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Jalen Chatfield. That made it an easy decision for Lafreniere to give the Rangers the lead.

A couple of shifts later, on a Carolina dump in behind his net, Shesterkin was sent flying to the ice by Svechnikov. He didn’t exactly avoid him. That caused some chaos. Both Zibanejad and Ryan Lindgren went after him.

Instead of making him pay, the Rangers were unable to capitalize on the power play. That gave the Hurricanes some momentum.

If there was something they did better, it was pinching the third man high to set up some dangerous shots from the slot. Eventually, their aggressiveness paid off. On a good cycle, Svechnikov passed the puck up top for an Aho point shot that Guentzel tipped in for his first of the series to tie it with 4:53 left.

The two sides would each take penalties with less than a minute remaining. Kotkaniemi drew the original call on Barclay Goodrow for cross-checking. But a scrum between Miller and Stefan Noesen led to Noesen getting an even up call for high-sticking. That resulted in four-on-four.

On it, the Canes struck with less than six seconds to go. After receiving an Aho feed, Skjei had his point shot tipped in by Dmitry Orlov to put them ahead. He beat Adam Fox on the goal.

Early in the second, with Trouba off for high-sticking Jack Drury, Svechnikov took an ill-advised interference minor two seconds later by picking off Fox. That led to more four-on-four.

When both teams returned to full strength, the Canes had some good attack time. Shesterkin made a pair of saves on Jordan Staal. He’s been one of the best forwards for Carolina. Staal has been noticeable on the forecheck and is getting chances. He also remains a good two-way center who can win faceoffs. He plays with Seth Jarvis and Teuvo Teravainen.

Following Shesterkin’s stops on Staal, the Canes sat back. After being stopped by the Carolina defense due to trying to do too much, Panarin had a better rush in transition that led to Fox setting up Lafreniere for his second goal to tie the score with 12:28 remaining.

Panarin took a Trocheck back pass and then swung a feed for a pinching Fox. He then found a wide open Lafreniere in front for an easy finish. It was a beautiful passing play that allowed them to draw even.

Trouba took his second bad penalty when he got his stick caught in Kotkaniemi’s skates to take him down at center ice. After a Shesterkin save on a Jarvis backhand, Fox got into it with Guentzel. He gave him a jab. Guentzel responded with a punch that sent Fox down. That cost the Canes the rest of their power play. Guentzel got the only penalty for roughing.

A grinning Trocheck gave Guentzel the thumbs up sign. Between the benches, it got heated between Miller and Tony DeAngelo. Words were exchanged. DeAngelo told Miller he’d fight him anytime. ESPN’s Ray Ferraro chuckled.

DeAngelo never stops yapping. He’s very annoying. But he enjoys playing the villain. The crowd booed him every time he touched the puck. It didn’t distract him.

Later in the period, he was a factor on Guentzel’s second of the game. After a Trouba turnover, the Hurricanes got in on the forecheck. DeAngelo moved the puck down to Aho along the boards. With three Rangers in the area, Aho was able to send a feed in front for Guentzel to bury past Shesterkin to put Carolina ahead 3-2 with 1:42 left.

On the goal, both Erik Gustafsson and Kreider got caught in no man’s land. Gustafsson wasn’t anywhere near Guentzel. Kreider puck watched. It was about as bad a defensive sequence as possible.

Trailing by one, the Rangers came close to tying it early in the third period. Following an Andersen save on Panarin, Lafreniere just missed in front, sending the rebound over the top of the net. His frustration was understandable.

A bit later, a Trouba pinch allowed Cuylle to draw a tripping minor on Orlov. A soft dump in by Panarin led to the Rangers recovering the puck. Trocheck’s shot was stopped by Andersen. But Kreider put in the rebound for his first of the series to tie it with 13:53 left in regulation.

It was his 43rd career postseason goal. That’s the most by a Ranger in franchise history. Eighteen of Kreider’s goals have come on the power play. For some of his shortcomings defensively, all he’s been is a clutch player. He’s scored a lot of big goals. Last night’s was another one that forced overtime.

Following the tying goal, the Canes got back to pressing the attack. Shesterkin made some key stops to keep them off the scoreboard. He swallowed everything up. It didn’t matter how many shots they took.

In between that, the Rangers had another power play. They had a couple of opportunities but couldn’t score. Roslovic was stopped by Andersen before it concluded. He again had a good night. He used his speed to cause the Canes some problems.

With nothing decided late in regulation, Wennberg made a good move to force Skjei to take him down. That gave the Rangers a chance to win it.

Instead, the Hurricanes nearly won it. A Zibanejad turnover led to a Canes’ two on one shorthanded. Jarvis had his shot stopped by a locked in Shesterkin and cleared. Then, ESPN screwed up. In what is still being talked about, someone accidentally switched to the start of the Avalanche and Stars. For 20 seconds, there were no Rangers or Hurricanes. It was chaotic.

When they returned to the game, it was just in time to see Shesterkin stop both Aho and then Chatfield. With nine seconds left, Andersen made a save on Zibanejad.

In the first overtime, the Hurricanes got better chances in the first half. Shesterkin denied Aho twice. The Canes also fired wide on some bids. Especially Svechnikov and Necas. Both have good shots. Sometimes, they can’t hit the net.

As the overtime moved forward, the Rangers started to build momentum. Roslovic got behind the Canes’ defense to test Andersen, who made the big save. Zibanejad got ahead but couldn’t lift the puck.

Trouba took down Necas for his third penalty. The Canes only could muster one shot, which Shesterkin easily handled. For the series, their power play is 0 for 10. The Rangers have taken too many penalties. They can’t continue this trend.

In the second half, they started to win some offensive draws and get set ups. At one point, they won six straight faceoffs. For the game, the Canes went 50 and 44. But the Rangers did a better job in sudden death.

With under two minutes left in the first overtime, Lafreniere thought he had the game won only to be stopped by Andersen. He came so close to being the hero.

Zibanejad had a point blank opportunity denied by Andersen with over a minute to go. The game required a second overtime.

In double overtime, Panarin was stopped by Andersen. Then, the Hurricanes came the other way in transition. Following a Shesterkin save on Jack Drury, Panarin was forced to hook down Necas.

The Canes didn’t do enough on it. Despite moving the puck up and down, they only got one unscreened Aho shot that Shesterkin handled.

Back at even strength, Trocheck tried to make a play inside the Canes’ blue line and went down. Live, it looked like Skjei took him down. The refs called a cross-check on him. That handed the Rangers their seventh power play.

After having a shot blocked, Panarin recovered the puck and got it over for a Zibanejad shot. With Brent Burns a bit out of position, Trocheck was able to put in the rebound for the thrilling overtime winner. It was bedlam at MSG.

Now, the pressure is on the Hurricanes. We’ll see what happens.