Happy Tuesday, everyone! Hope you enjoyed a long weekend full of friends, family and, of course, sports.
Let's get right to it.
Good morning to everyone but especially to...
THE NEW YORK RANGERS
PNC Arena was the strongest of strongholds for the Hurricanes. No visitor came to Raleigh and left with a win.
Until last night.
Behind an explosive offense and the dazzling shot-stopping of goalie Igor Shesterkin, the Rangers dominated Game 7, earning a 6-2 win and advancing to their first Eastern Conference Final since 2015.
New York scored twice in the first period, both times on the power play. Adam Fox opened the scoring, and Chris Kreider followed shortly thereafter.Ryan Strome made it 3-0 in the second period.Kreider, Filip Chytil and Andrew Copp (empty net) all scored in the third period for New York, while Carolina got goals from Tony DeAngelo and Max Domi.Shesterkin saved 36 of the 38 shots he faced, including several from point-blank range.In the Carolina net, starter Antti Raanta left injured in the second period. Backup Pyotr Kochetkov entered and allowed three goals on 12 shots. Defender Seth Jarvis also got injured.This was one of the most impressive Game 7 road performances you'll see. Entering last night, Carolina had been 7-0 at home this postseason with a +17 goal difference across those seven games. From the start, though, this one had a different feel to it. The visitors' power play overwhelmed Carolina early, and it was 2-0 within eight minutes. Any time it looked like the Hurricanes might get back into it, Shesterkin shut the door.
The Rangers will face the two-time defending champion Lightning next. New York won all three regular-season meetings, but as we've seen this year -- and the two years before -- Tampa Bay hits a different level in the playoffs.
Honorable mentions
Our latest MLB Power Rankings: Memorial Day check in ⚾
CBS Sports/Getty Images
It was a relatively stable week at the top of our MLB expert Matt Snyder's latest MLB Power Rankings, but we did get a new team at the top.
Snyder: "1. Dodgers -- They've won 13 of 15 and the two losses were by one run apiece -- one of them was a routine grounder being cleanly fielded away from a win."Here's the entire top five:
1. Dodgers (prev: 2)2. Yankees (prev: 1)3. Mets (prev: 5)4. Brewers (prev: 6)5. Padres (prev: 3)As the season nears its third month, Snyder has also identified some teams that could soon start rising in his rankings, including...
Snyder: "The Red Sox have played well enough since that brutal start to get within three games of .500. They'll need to shore up the bullpen, but there are always plenty of relievers to be had in front of the trade deadline. The upside is there."You can check out the full list -- and the full Power Rankings -- here.
