GERARD GALLANT

The Tampa Bay Lightning know what type of effort it will take to finish off the New York Rangers.

Chris Kreider scored twice and the New York Rangers ended Carolina’s perfect postseason run at home by beating the Hurricanes 6-2 in the decisive Game 7 of their second-round playoff series.

Igor Shesterkin stopped 37 shots and became the fifth goalie to have two assists in a playoff game, Filip Chytil scored twice in the second period and the New York Rangers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 to force a deciding Game 7 in their second-round series.

The Vegas Golden Knights fired coach Peter DeBoer on Monday in the aftermath of missing the playoffs for the first time in their five-year franchise history. General manager Kelly McCrimmon made the announcement and thanked DeBoer for his work with the organization. “Since joining the organization, Pete and his staff have guided us through some of the most unique and challenging circumstances we’ve witnessed since our franchise entered the NHL," said McCrimmon, whose job is not in jeopardy.

The New York Rangers were on the brink of elimination when they came back from Pittsburgh earlier in the week after two bad losses on the road.

The eight playoff teams in the Eastern Conference have been set since before the All-Star break.

Artemi Panarin scored the first of New York’s three third-period goals with 8:25 left and the Rangers beat the Boston Bruins 5-2 to give Gerard Gallant the best start in his first 20 games as the team's coach.

No one player or executive had a greater influence on how the New York Rangers will look in 2021-22 than Tom Wilson of the Washington Capitals. A game after the Rangers had been eliminated from playoff contention last season, the Caps' enforcer gave the Blueshirts a black eye. In a span of seconds, Wilson punched a prone Pavel Buchnevich in the back of the head in a goal-mouth scramble and later rag-dolled star forward Artemi Panarin to the ice, ending his season.

Gerard Gallant expects the New York Rangers to take a big step in his first season as coach.

The New York Rangers have reached an agreement to hire Gerard Gallant as their next coach, a person with knowledge of the move tells The Associated Press.