It didn’t look good after two periods. Facing the prospect of a Game 7 after leading the series three games to none, the Rangers stood up to the pressure by rallying for a stirring 5-3 comeback win to stun the Hurricanes and their fans at PNC Arena.

They were led by Chris Kreider, who put together a memorable performance in Game 6 to send the Rangers to the Eastern Conference Finals. Kreider’s natural hat trick in the third period turned the game around. Barclay Goodrow added an empty netter to seal the come from behind victory that eliminated the Hurricanes.

It’s still hard to believe. They trailed throughout the game. In fact, it was hard for the Rangers to get any shots through on a shaky Frederik Andersen early. Despite spending more time in the Hurricanes’ zone, they were only credited with three shots in a back and forth first period.

Even though the second line of Vincent Trocheck, Artemi Panarin, and Alexis Lafreniere had some good zone time against the Hurricanes, they couldn’t get much done against a stingy defense that protected Andersen. To their credit, Carolina blocked a dozen shots in the first period.

Most interesting is that unlike most of the series, the Rangers out-attempted the Hurricanes 25-21 in the opening period. However, they were outshot 8-3. The home team bent, but it didn’t break.

In a continuing trend, the Canes used their speed to get into transition and create chances. Unlike what happened in the third period of Game 5, the Rangers were able to limit them. Carolina had eight shots in the first.

There weren’t many glaring mistakes made. But on one late shift with the third line out and top pair, the Blueshirts gave up a late goal to Martin Necas. After Igor Shesterkin let a wide shot go that he could’ve gloved, the Hurricanes went to work.

Necas finished a check on Ryan Lindgren in the corner. A good Dmitry Orlov pinch moved the puck to Jordan Martinook behind the net. Adam Fox chased him. That allowed Martinook to center for a vacated Necas in front for an easy finish to give the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead with 1:22 left.

On the goal, several things went wrong. Fox vacated the front to go after Martinook, who was no threat behind the net. Lindgren lost a battle on a good check from Necas. He then immediately cut to the front where Martinook found him for his third goal in two games.

Both Kaapo Kakko and Alex Wennberg were out of the picture. Wennberg made the mistake of having his head turned the wrong way. He left the net front open for Necas to beat Shesterkin.

With the Caniacs in a frenzy, Shesterkin made a key save on Teuvo Teravainen before the conclusion of the first.

In the second period, the Rangers started better. Fox tested Andersen early. A couple of shifts later, on a faceoff in the neutral zone, Martinook high-sticked Kakko to put the Rangers on the power play.

Outside of a Kreider tip-in that missed wide, it wasn’t good. Following a Panarin turnover, the Hurricanes came with speed shorthanded, forcing Kreider to take a cross-checking penalty on Seth Jarvis. That ended the power play and eventually put the Canes on one.

Following an abbreviated four-on-four, the Hurricanes made the most of their power play. After Shesterkin denied Aho in tight, he retrieved the puck and got it up top for Andrei Svechnikov. Svechnikov was given plenty of time to take a shot that Aho deflected in front. The loose puck came right to Seth Jarvis, who beat Mika Zibanejad to the spot to slam home the rebound.

The four Rangers’ penalty killers were too passive. They didn’t apply much pressure, making it easy for Svechnikov to shoot the puck and create a rebound for Jarvis to score on. Nobody helped Zibanejad, either. Fox was in the wrong position.

With the fans still buzzing, the Blueshirts responded less than a minute later to get back in it. On some sustained pressure from the Trocheck line, Panarin had a wrist shot stopped by Andersen. But Orlov turned the puck over. That gave Panarin another try. This time, Trocheck was able to tip in the shot past an off balance Andersen,to make it 2-1 with 14:31 left.

Kreider got a shot right on Andersen and then had a deflection stopped. Both Jacob Trouba and Zibanejad had trouble with the Hurricanes’ pressure. Eventually, Shesterkin came up with a good stop on Jack Drury.

The Rangers got a good shift from the fourth line. The trio of Barclay Goodrow, Jimmy Vesey, and Jonny Brodzinski spent some time on the forecheck in the Canes’ end. Towards the end of it, K’Andre Miller went for an aggressive pinch on Svechnikov along the wall. Svechnikov was able to chip the puck by him, leading directly to Aho breaking away from Vesey for a goal that made it 3-1 with 10:37 remaining.

Miller thought he could seal Svechnikov off to keep the puck in. At the time, the Rangers were searching for offense. The problem was that Vesey wasn’t in a good spot to cover for him. Once the puck got to Aho, he pulled away and caught Shesterkin down to fire a laser high glove into the top of the net.

Aho had a great series. He finished with two goals and seven assists for nine points. He really did everything he could to try to lead the Hurricanes past the Rangers.

The Rangers came oh so close to cutting it to one. On a drop pass from Kreider, Lindgren moved in and had his shot trickle through Andersen. With the puck about to cross the goal line, a diving Martinook saved a goal at the last split second. It was a great hustle play.

A bit later, Shesterkin made a key save on Jake Guentzel. Despite not being at his best, he turned it around at a crucial time. His biggest saves would come in the pivotal third period. He also had a bit of luck.

With less than four minutes left in the second, Drury skated in and got a great scoring chance that hit the goalpost. One more goal might’ve done it. It never happened.

Entering the third, the Rangers trailed by two on the scoreboard. At that point, they were being outshot 20-14. They were better in the second. But the Hurricanes continued to do a good job in front to make life easier on Andersen. Anyone could tell that he was fighting the puck. That would play out in the final period.

At the start of the third, it was all Hurricanes. They looked to find the next goal that would likely have forced a deciding seventh game.

It was the more desperate Canes who were hard on the puck and in attack mode. They didn’t sit back. The Rangers were on their heels.

On a bad shift for Alex Wennberg, who struggled throughout, the Hurricanes nearly made it a three-goal game. Instead, Martinook hit the crossbar. His line with Evgeny Kuznetsov and Necas dominated most of the night. He was a bit unlucky.

The Canes continued to apply the pressure. But Shesterkin had the answer on Jalen Chatfield and Stefan Noesen. He’d deliver big saves in the third. He made 16 saves in the third. Without them, the Rangers would be facing a Game 7 after having led 3-0 in the series.

On another great opportunity, Jordan Staal was robbed point blank by Shesterkin. He continued to make the clutch stops. There also would be another goalpost hit. This time by Guentzel, who had his snapshot, go off the near post. Sometimes, it really is a game of inches. They were that close to being a game away from making possible history.

On what seemed like a nothing play from Jack Roslovic, he was able to slip the puck to Zibanejad. Zibanejad then saw Andersen a bit off his near goalpost. Similar to Lafreniere back in Game 4, when he banked in the tying goal in the third, Zibanejad shot the puck off Andersen. That created a rebound that Kreider was able to stuff in on the backhand to suddenly cut it to 3-2 with 13:17 remaining.

There were a couple of close calls afterward that could’ve spoiled the comeback. On a mistake by the Rangers, Aho made another bid to score. But he ran out of real estate, sending his backhand wide.

On a Jaccob Slavin rebound, Staal again had a great chance to score, only to be denied by an aggressive Shesterkin. Once he made that money stop, the Rangers took over.

With 9:02 left in regulation, Staal shoved Zibanejad from behind into the boards. He received two minutes for cross-checking. Was it the right call? No. But anytime a player shoves an opposing player into the boards face first, it’s usually a penalty.

Having gone ice cold on the man-advantage, the Rangers had to pick themselves up. Aho had a faceoff win that forced the Rangers’ top unit to go back and reset. If there was a bad break for the Canes, it came on a Brent Burns clear that went into the bench. That led to a key offensive draw that Trocheck won.

Following the Trocheck win, the Rangers were forced to move the puck quickly due to the aggressiveness of the Canes’ penalty killers. They were applying heavy pressure on the points. Both Fox and Zibanejad had no time. However, they didn’t panic.

Eventually, the puck came to Trocheck on the boards. He found an isolated Panarin in the middle at the top. Without any hesitation, Panarin let go of a shot pass that Kreider tipped in for his second straight goal. His power-play goal tied it with 8:06 left.

The next time his line was out at even strength, Kreider almost got the hat trick. He just missed wide in the slot. He’d later come close on a tip-in.

On the same shift, Zibanejad had a wrist shot miss over the top. With the Hurricanes suddenly pinned in their zone, Roslovic dropped the puck for a pinching Lindgren. He made a great play going around the net to find a wide open Kreider for his third consecutive goal. That gave him a natural hat trick. Most importantly, it gave the Rangers a 4-3 lead with 4:19 left in regulation.

It was incredible. The dramatic turnaround was hard to believe. At one point, the Rangers looked dead in the water. However, like they have most of the year, they picked themselves up.

Kreider became just the third Rangers player to ever record a third period hat trick in the postseason. He joined Mark Messier and Wayne Gretzky. I’m not going to add anything else about it. We know what Messier did 30 years ago. That was even more pressure packed.

What Kreider delivered was a great performance. It isn’t comparable. Like he said in his very calm demeanor during the postgame press conference, it means they get to play more hockey. There’s still a tough opponent coming in the Conference Finals. The Rangers still have a lot of work ahead of them. They know that.

As expected, the Hurricanes applied pressure once Andersen was on the bench for a six-on-five. On an Aho faceoff win over Trocheck, the puck came to Svechnikov in front after Will Cuylle vacated the area.

One on one with Shesterkin, Svechnikov was stoned. There would be no game-tying goal this time. He’d follow that up by making a strong stop on Brady Skjei off another Aho faceoff win.

For some reason, the Rangers kept icing the puck. They iced it four straight times. That led to more defensive draws taken exclusively by Trocheck. Once it got to 1:37 left, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour took his timeout to set up a play. It didn’t matter.

The Rangers defended so well that the Hurricanes never got a sniff. They cleared pucks out and made it difficult. The work from Trocheck, Zibanejad, Kreider, Trouba and Lindgren was outstanding. When Goodrow, Vesey, Roslovic, Miller, and Fox replaced them, they sealed the victory.

Miller got the puck over to Goodrow, who turned around and sent it down the ice for an empty netter that clinched the series win with 49 seconds remaining.

It was very satisfying. They had to work very hard to earn that all-important fourth win. Credit goes out to the Hurricanes for never giving up. They believed they could come back from a 3-0 series deficit. They were so close to forcing Game 7. Fortunately, it never got there.

The Rangers defeated a very good team. They know they were in a battle. The Canes pushed them.

Carolina really put up a great fight without one of their best players. Brett Pesce was never able to return. Now, it’s uncertain if he’ll stay in Carolina. With many unrestricted free agents this summer, including Guentzel, the Canes could look very different next season. Brind’Amour is also available. If they don’t keep him, a number of teams will be interested.

When asked by reporters following the game, if he indeed told teammates that he’d get one during the second intermission, a humble Kreider wouldn’t take the bait. Instead, he gave the team credit for how they played.

It wasn’t until a grinning Trocheck replied that he did that both laughed. What did he tell Kreider? He hoped so to chuckles. Kreider will go down as an all-time Ranger for the many goals he’s scored. It’s when he delivers under the spotlight that it means the most.

Kreider gave a Hurricanes fan his stick after the game. He definitely earned respect. During the handshakes, former teammate Tony DeAngelo said something nice to him. It was cool.

It really was a great win. Considering how bleak things looked early in the third period, the Rangers showed a lot of resolve. They proved that they have tremendous heart and character.

It would’ve been easy to say that it’s not their day. They didn’t chance going to a do or die seventh game. Instead, they dug deep and found a way to get it done.

Now, they’ll await the winner between the Bruins and Panthers. Florida leads the series 3-2. Game 6 is Friday night in Boston.

For at least a day, they can enjoy the victory. Then, they’ll start preparing for the next round. There’s more excitement in store.