With a goal by Brandon Dubinsky just short of the four minute mark, the Rangers got off to a fast start last night at the RBC Center in Raleigh versus the Southeast Division leading Carolina Hurricanes, and they never trailed thereafter in a solid 4-2 triumph for their third consecutive victory. With the two points earned, the Blueshirts have captured 14 out of a possible 16 points in their last eight (6-0-2) and are currently in seventh place in the Eastern Conference with 74 points (tied with the red hot Boston Bruins who are in sixth with two games in hand).

A very strong first period put the ‘Canes back on their heels right from the outset, which was surprising given how well Carolina has played recently at home. Had it not been for Cam Ward’s superior netminding, the first period could have been far worse for the home team. Dubinsky’s opening tally was a fine effort by the youngster as he faked Ward and flipped a backhander into a wide open net (Jaromir Jagr fed him a great pass through the slot). With just 44 seconds remaining in the opening period, Sean Avery ripped a beautiful wrist shot from the right side which fooled Ward. In the 15 or so minutes between those two goals, the Rangers had several high quality scoring opportunities, but Ward was there every time. They were glad, however, to go into the locker room after one period up 2-0, having outshot the ‘Canes 15-5.

Chris Drury opened the Rangers advantage to three goals when he out-battled Frank Kaberle right in front of Ward and knocked the puck in at 2:14 of the second. His 21st of the season was assisted by Marc Staal and first star of the game Nigel Dawes. The visitors continued to dominate early in the second much as they did in the first but Carolina struck at 7:39 when Eric Cole’s slap shot deflected off Daniel Girardi’s stick and sailed past Henrik Lundqvist. That tally gave the Hurricanes a little momentum, but they were unable to do any further damage. After 40 minutes, the Rangers still had their two goal lead.

Cole narrowed the margin to one with a power-play goal at 4:54 of the final frame; it was the closet they would get. The Rangers did not panic even though they had taken too many minor penalties and remained solid, though they had few offensive flurries. Brendan Shanahan ripped a perfect wrist shot past Ward off a nice feed through the slot from Dawes (his second assist) at 12:48 to restore their two-goal lead; it was more than enough. Carolina couldn’t respond (they outshot the Rangers 13-2) and the Blueshirts skated off with a very satisfying victory.

Lundqvist stopped 26 shots in the winning effort while Ward was good for 24 saves. The Rangers are off until Sunday afternoon when the Philadelphia Flyers pay a visit to MSG.