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ESPN cut the broadcast of Game 2 between the New York Rangers and the Carolina Hurricanes during the final seconds of the third period.
With Game 2 of the second-round series between the New York Rangers and the Carolina Hurricanes already into the final minute of play in regulation and the score tied at 3-3, ESPN left spectators trying to come up with their own conclusion.
On Tuesday, May 7, ESPN was in charge of broadcasting the second match of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. With the two teams fighting to avoid getting into sudden-death overtime, the Rangers in a power play, and less than a minute left, ESPN cut the broadcast away.
The outlet flipped its broadcast from MSG to the pregame coverage of Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals between the Dallas Stars and the Colorado Avalanche.
“This is the scene as we’re ready to go for a high-power series in the Western Conference, in the second round,” ESPN’s Mike Monaco told those sticking to their devices trying to watch the end of Game 2 between New York and Carolina on May 7. “Thanks for joining us.”
Rangers & Hurricanes Go To (Double) OT, Save ESPN From Disaster
The broadcast of Game 2 cut away with 49 seconds left in the third and final period. The feed came back with around 32 seconds left in regulation, and to the relief of those watching the score was the same as when they were sent to Dallas for a brief span.
The Rangers failed to score during the final minute of play even though they found themselves in a power play with both teams going to overtime.
Peter Botte of the New York Post had a funny reaction to the ESPN snafu, bringing back the “Heidi Game” played by fellow New York franchise the NY Jets in 1968 when they were facing the Oakland Raiders and the broadcast abruptly cut to the movie Heidi.
“OMG, they temporarily Heidi-gamed the Rangers game,” Botte wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The Raiders completed a comeback and defeated the Jets back then. The Rangers, however, kept the win in New York on Tuesday by beating the Hurricanes a little over seven minutes into the second overtime period played on May 7.
Rangers’ Vincent Trocheck scored the game-winning goal making the final score 4-3 for New York, who now has a 2-0 series lead over Carolina after beating the Hurricanes by the exact same result on the first two games of the second-round matchup.
Igor Shesterking Emerges as Game 2 Hero, Tensions Escalate
After watching both teams score seven games to kick their series off, they went back at it in Game 2 two days later and ended up scoring the same number of goals–even though it took them an extra 27 minutes this time.
There was a similar level of physicality in Tuesday’s contest following Tony DeAngelo’s shoulder headshot in Game 1. Tensions are rising each passing game, however, and the comments made by some Hurricanes players aren’t helping lower the heat.
Alexis Lafreniere scored twice for the Rangers while Chris Kreider had a power-play goal and Trocheck added the fourth and final (also in a power-play) goal of the evening for New York. Artemi Panarin contributed three assists.
On Carolina’s side, Jake Guentzel scored two goals, Dmitry Orlov had one and Sebastian Aho had an assist on all three of them. Goaltender Frederick Andersen had 35 saves for the Hurricanes, but that was nothing compared to Igor Shesterkin’s work on net for the Rangers.
Even though Shesterkin had to endure a reckless hit by Andrei Svechnikov, the New York netminder stopped 54 of the 57 shots he saw through Game 2, playing the whole 87:24 minutes of playoff hockey on Tuesday’s outing.
Rangers’ Matt Rempe teased some retaliation following that action while his teammate would end the game getting rained with “Igor! Igor! Igor!” chants from the Madison Square Garden faithful.
“We never give up,” Shesterkin told reporters after the Game 2 win on May 7, via MSG Network. “So we play till the end. Everybody play our game and so we deserved a win tonight.”
The Rangers will play the Hurricanes in Carolina for Games 3 and 4 starting on Thursday with the second leg of those two contests scheduled for Saturday. New York enters Game 3 boasting a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Antonio Losada covers the NHL for Heavy.com. A veteran sports writer based in Spain, Antonio has covered the NBA, NFL and soccer for over 10 years, with bylines at SB Nation, FanSided, Yahoo Sports, FanGraphs, RotoBaller and more. He has also been nominated for multiple FSWA awards, including Fantasy Football Writer of the Year and DFS Writer of the Year. More about Antonio Losada
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