Sometimes, games are decided by good goaltending. For the New York Rangers, that was indeed the case in a 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thanksgiving Eve in Raleigh.

Igor Shesterkin was the difference, making 36 saves on 38 shots to give the Rangers a reason to be thankful going into the big holiday. In one of his best performances so far, he stopped all 13 shots in a busy first period.

The Rangers didn’t generate a whole lot early. However, the third line was their most effective in the opening 20 minutes. With J.T. Miller returning to the lineup after missing two games, Mike Sullivan sat out Conor Sheary for the first time this season. While Miller replaced Jonny Brodzinski on the big scoring line, Laba centered Brodzinski and Brett Berard.

It was the hard work of the Laba unit that led to the only goal of the first period. Following a good pinch from Matthew Robertson, he sent a one-handed shot towards the net. Taylor Raddysh retrieved the loose puck and made a simple pass for Laba, who then skated into open ice and fired his fourth past Frederik Andersen at 16:53.

After failing to capitalize on a late power play, the Rangers took the one-goal lead to the locker room.

The second period was frustrating due to a couple of calls that went against them. Laba was sent off for a questionable slashing minor on Andersen that drew the ire of analyst Brian Boyle on MSG Network.

Of course, the Hurricanes took full advantage to even the score. On a clean faceoff win from Sebastian Aho, the Canes worked the puck around with some nice passing between Nikolaj Ehlers and Aho. After taking an Ehlers feed, Aho made a perfect dish across for a Shayne Gostisbehere one-timer for a power-play goal at 5:04.

A Mika Zibanejad tripping minor put the Hurricanes back on the man-advantage again. Shesterkin made a key stop on Andrei Svechnikov to keep the game tied. The Rangers managed to kill off the penalty.

Halfway through the contest, Berard was called for boarding Sean Walker. It was an atrocious call due to Walker toe picking. The replay showed that Berard didn’t even hit him. Walker just lost an edge.

Despite being shorthanded for a dubious call, the Rangers got the job done to successfully kill it off. They limited the Canes to two shots, which Shesterkin handled.

The two kills proved crucial, as it helped give them momentum. Despite spending a lot of time defending earlier in the period, the Rangers picked it up. They were able to grab the lead with just over a minute left.

On a set play, Vincent Trocheck won a faceoff back to Miller. He got the puck over to Adam Fox, who quickly hit Artemi Panarin with a nice pass that resulted in a one-timer past Andersen to make it 2-1 with 1:04 remaining.

Panarin kept the momentum going when he set up Trocheck only 45 seconds into the third period for a 3-1 lead. After entering the Carolina zone, he drew two Hurricanes to him before finding Trocheck in the slot. His slap shot beat Andersen upstairs for his fifth. Since returning on Nov. 10, he has five goals and three assists in nine games. He’s the heartbeat of the team.

The Canes kept coming. Eventually, Seth Jarvis cut the deficit to 3-2 with 9:07 remaining when he was able to take a Gostisbehere pass and beat Shesterkin up high from a tough angle for his 12th.

That was as close as they got. Shesterkin locked it down by turning aside 13 of 14 shots in the third.

With Andersen lifted for an extra attacker, Will Cuylle scored into an empty net from his own zone to seal it with 1:53 remaining. For his trouble, he got a lot of love from Alexis Lafreniere during the goal celebration, which was nice to see.

By going into a tough building and coming out with a hard fought victory, the Rangers made it two in a row. When they return to action to face the Boston Bruins on Black Friday, they’ll look to make it three straight.

The next two opponents are big tests after passing the first one against Carolina. They’ll also battle the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday at home.

Parssinen Clears Waivers

On Wednesday, Juuso Parssinen cleared waivers. He’ll be assigned to the Hartford Wolf Pack in the American Hockey League. Parssinen had two goals and an assist in 13 games with the Rangers.