Carolina Hurricanes offense sputters again as Georgiev, Rangers shut out Carolina, 2-0

For some NHL players, the final days leading up to the NHL deadline can be stressful.

One stress reducer: Play a game, get their minds off it.

The Carolina Hurricanes had a game Sunday, a day before the deadline, but it may not have eased their stress level a lot. The Rangers took a 2-0 victory behind goalie Alexandar Georgiev’s 44 saves as the Canes lost a fourth straight game .

Both teams had their chances in the first 40 minutes — the Canes went 0-for-3 on the power play in the first two periods — and the only goal was a redirection by the Rangers’ Chris Kreider late in the second. It was Kreider’s 41st of what has been a career season and came on the Rangers’ eighth shot of the game.

The Canes (41-15-6), who had defenseman Tony DeAngelo rejoin the lineup, came out with a strong push in the third, getting some strong forechecking shifts. They had heavy shots and tipped shots. They pulled goalie Frederik Andersen with 1:45 left in regulation and kept attacking.

But Georgiev remained calm in net, making all the stops. Frank Vatrano had a late empty-net goal to seal it as the The Rangers (40-18-5) followed up a big road win Saturday at Tampa Bay — Igor Shesterkin in net — with another and may be in the position to add some players on Monday.

The biggest trade news of the day Sunday had the Toronto Maple Leafs acquiring defenseman Mark Giordano and forward Colin Blackwell. Tampa Bay added forward Nick Paul from Ottawa and the Florida Panthers, who are loading up, also added another defenseman, Robert Hagg from Buffalo.

The news wasn’t all good for the Panthers, the Atlantic Division leaders. There was talk of star defenseman Aaron Ekblad possibly being placed on Long Term Injured Reserve (LTIR) until the playoffs.

The general feeling around the Canes on Sunday was that little might be done Monday — no major moves. But president and general manager Don Waddell was said to be on the phone most of the day Sunday with other GMs, doing some due diligence.

With Nino Niederreiter serving a one-game suspension for a slashing incident Friday against the Washington Capitals, the Canes had a lineup of seven forwards and 11 defensemen.

DeAngelo last played Feb. 21 at Philadelphia, when he said he injured himself getting off a hard slapshot from near the blue line.

“It was a one-timer and I felt some discomfort in my midsection,” DeAngelo said Sunday of the injury. “It set me back for while.”

DeAngelo was out for 11 games, although saying he likely would have returned from the injury sooner had the Canes been in the playoff. An antsy type, he didn’t like sitting and watching -- he was off the ice the first two weeks and did not skate.

The Canes’ power play didn’t run very smoothly without DeAngelo, who has quarterbacked the first unit this season. Before Sunday, they had gone five games without a power-play goal (0-12) and often had trouble gaining the zone, setting up and getting shots on net.