It was only one loss. In truth, the Rangers weren’t going to go undefeated in the playoffs.

At some point, a good opponent was gonna  respond. On Saturday night, the Hurricanes got their first win of the second round series. They earned a 4-3 victory to take Game 4 at home.

It didn’t come easy. After letting a two-goal lead evaporate, the Hurricanes needed a clutch power-play goal from Brady Skjei to avoid elimination. He delivered with left in the third period to help Carolina overcome another Rangers’ comeback.

As was documented yesterday, they took advantage of a Ryan Lindgren tripping minor that Jordan Martinook drew to pick up the hard fought victory. Lindgren had a tough night, struggling with the relentless forecheck pressure of the Canes.

Despite both Lindgren and a banged up Adam Fox (2 assists, -3 rating) having a less than ideal series, the Rangers are still in a good position. They can return home and close out the Hurricanes tomorrow night at The Garden.

Every game has been decided by one goal. You can make the argument that Carolina deserved better in Game 2. They outshot and outplayed the Blueshirts for most of the game. However, a lack of discipline cost them. Chris Kreider scored on the power play in the third period. Then, Vincent Trocheck won it with a power-play goal in double overtime.

In both games at Raleigh, the Canes were right there. Andrei Svechnikov forced sudden death late in Game 3. But a beautiful between the legs deflection by Artemi Panarin won it less than two minutes into overtime. That gave the Rangers a 3-0 series lead.

The Hurricanes never trailed in Game 4. They jumped out to a 2-0 lead early on. After Will Cuylle cut it to 2-1, Sebastian Aho made it 3-1 when he escaped the check of Panarin to bury a Jake Guentzel centering feed in front past Igor Shesterkin.

There was a lot of debate following the lackluster period. Most of it centered around Jacob Trouba. The Rangers captain has struggled mightily against the Hurricanes. Prior to helping set up the tying goal from Alexis Lafreniere early in the third period, he’d been on for six straight goals against.

His lack of foot speed has been exposed in the series. The Canes are a very fast skating team that can get in transition and generate offense off the forecheck. Trouba and defensive partner Erik Gustafsson have had trouble.

Trouba’s an easier target due to his salary. He is paid quite handsomely by the Rangers to play defense. His cap hit is $8 million and includes a modified no-trade clause through 2025-26. Some of the frustration is understandable.

However, Trouba is one player on a good team. As easy as it is to pin all three Hurricanes’ goals on him yesterday, he was far from alone.

On the Evgeny Kuznetsov goal, Gustafsson handcuffed Barclay Goodrow with a bad pass. He then turned the puck over in the neutral zone, leading to Kuznetsov scoring. While Trouba was back defending the one on one, Kuznetsov used him as a screen to beat Shesterkin short side. It was a bang bang play following the Goodrow turnover.

Trouba and Panarin were largely responsible for Stefan Noesen increasing the Canes’ lead to 2-0. Panarin failed to get the puck out. Trouba then panicked by making a bad pass in the middle that got intercepted. As play continued, Teuvo Teravainen came from behind the net and forced Shesterkin to give up a bad rebound on a turnaround shot that led to Noesen putting a backhand in.

It was a smart play by Teravainen. He surprised Shesterkin and got exactly what he wanted. Noesen then finished it to put the Rangers behind by two for the first time in the postseason.

Gustafsson was able to help the cause by moving the puck up to Kaapo Kakko. Kakko then made a great pass to lead Cuylle on a breakaway for his first career postseason goal. Kakko played his best game. He later nearly had another primary assist. But Alex Wennberg hit the goalpost.

With 4:31 left in the period, Aho was set up by Guentzel to make it 3-1. Following a Brent Burns dump in behind the net, Guentzel came out and drew attention. Trouba skated towards him, vacating the front of the net. That allowed Guentzel to thread the needle to Aho for an easy goal.

On the same play, Panarin had Aho covered in front until he let him go. That’s what caused the problem. Left unchecked, Aho was able to get his third of the postseason. Trocheck was also in the vicinity.

Despite some bad defensive breakdowns, the Blueshirts were undeterred. As usual, they responded by clawing back into the game. A better played second period saw Lafreniere and Wennberg each hit goalposts.

Eventually, a strong shift from the fourth line led to Goodrow redeeming himself by redirecting a Braden Schneider shot past Frederik Andersen to make it 3-2. Jimmy Vesey provided the work down low. He first took a shot that Andersen let out a bad rebound on. Tony DeAngelo tried a rim around that Vesey picked off. He set up Schneider’s shot that Goodrow tipped in.

Early in the third period, Trouba made a good pass to lead Mika Zibanejad into the Hurricanes’ zone. He then passed across for Lafreniere, who patiently waited before banking a shot off Andersen and in for his fourth goal of the series. That tied the score.

If there was an area they could’ve been better at, it was attacking the Canes more. The Rangers only had four more shots on a shaky Andersen in the third. Part of it was due to the desperation Carolina played with. However, it’s not a good enough excuse for why they sat back.

Eventually, the Canes kept attacking and finally scored their first power-play play goal of the series. It only took 17 attempts. Trouba was on for the Skjei game-winner. He and Fox were defending down low when Teravainen set up Skjei for a rocket past Shesterkin with Seth Jarvis camped in front.

It’s easy to critique Trouba for again being on for a goal against. But the Canes finally executed the strategy that coach Rod Brind’Amour wanted to see. The Rangers’ penalty killers couldn’t get it done. The forwards were the reliable Trocheck and Goodrow. It happens.

If it’s true that both the top pair and third pair haven’t had good series, then the second pair has been just the opposite. Both Schneider and K’Andre Miller have been steady for coach Peter Laviolette. Miller has continued to play with more of an edge while doing a good job carrying the puck out. He’s been their best defenseman.

At times, Schneider looks confused when he’s battling Guentzel behind his own net. However, he’s done a solid job. He picked up the primary helper on Goodrow’s goal. If there’s one thing he can do more of, it’s take the body. Miller’s done it more since the playoffs began. He’s continued to look more comfortable playing with Schneider.

Undoubtedly, the Rangers will need a more consistent effort out of everyone tomorrow night if they want to close out the Hurricanes. That means Panarin can’t no show. He’s been much better so far. Expect him to bounce back.

Miller and Schneider need help. Lindgren can play a lot better. Fox knows what the challenge is. They were right there on Saturday despite falling behind.

It remains to be seen if Trouba and Gustafsson can improve their play at even strength. They’re up against a much tougher opponent. While it’s unrealistic for Laviolette to sit Trouba, at what point does he consider inserting Zac Jones for Gustafsson? He makes too many mistakes. Whether it’s getting caught pinching or making a poor decision in his end, Gustafsson is scary.

With the Rangers still leading the series 3-1, don’t expect Laviolette to make any changes to the blue line. However, it sounds like Filip Chytil is a possibility for tomorrow. He was feeling better today. If he is back in, it’ll be for Jonny Brodzinski.

Chytil would go back on the third line. You wonder if Laviolette liked what he saw from Cuylle. He scored and was very noticeable along with Kakko. Wennberg was effective, too. We’ll see what Laviolette decides.

The Rangers must play their best game to eliminate the Hurricanes. That means getting off to a faster start and playing from in front.