The Carolina Hurricanes seemed on the verge of making NHL history, but New York's Chris Kreider had other ideas.

Kreider scored three consecutive goals in the third period as the Rangers rallied to defeat Carolina 5-3 in Game 6 of their best-of-seven playoff series. New York scored four unanswered goals in the final period, including an empty netter, to win the series 4-2 and advance to the Eastern Conference final.

Other WRAL Top Stories

The eliminated Hurricanes now face an off-season filled with uncertainty. Carolina has reached the playoffs and won a series for six consecutive years, but the Hurricanes' roster is expected to undergo significant changes with eight unrestricted free agents.

"When you look at the way our team was built, we got so many guys that I don't know if we're gonna be back," said Jordan Martinook, one of the team's free agents. "It's hard to kind of fathom it right now and I'll be thinking about this for a long, long time."

The Hurricanes were seeking to become just the 10th team in NHL history to force a Game 7 after losing the first three games. And for two-plus periods it appeared the Hurricanes were on their way.

© WRAL

Carolina carried a 3-1 lead into the third period, thanks, in part, to an memorable save by Martinook.

Martinook's diving sweep of his stick to stop a puck from trickling completely over the goal line preserved the two-goal lead late in the second period — and seemed destined to be a lasting memory from the series.

New York defenseman Ryan Lindgren put the puck between the legs of goalie Frederik Anderson, but Martinook came sliding across the ice with and used his out-stretched stick to stop the puck just before it full crossed.

"These types of games you try and do anything you can to keep it out of your net," Martinook said.

But Krieder and the Rangers took control on the third period.

The Rangers pulled to within 3-2 when Krieder jammed home a puck with his backhand after Andersen's skate save on Mika Zibanejad along the post. They tied the game on a power-play goal by Kreider, who deflected an Artemi Panarin shot past Andersen. Carolina's Jordan Staal was called for a cross check to give the Rangers the power play.

And Kreider gave the Rangers the lead on a goal with 4:19 remaining that capped a frenzied few minutes of pressure for New York.

"Their top guys took guys took over," said Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour, who is not under contract for next season.

Martinook set up the Hurricanes' first goal with an assist from behind the net to Martin Necas in the first period. Seth Jarvis made it 2-0 in the second period on a power play goal. Carolina finished 2-for-21 on the power play in the series.

New York cut it to 2-1 on Vincent Trochek's tip-in in the second, but Carolina's Sebastian Aho beat New York goaltender Igor Shesterkin high to the glove side on a rush to give the Hurricanes a 3-1.

© WRAL

It seemed as if that might hold up, especially as the Hurricanes had several chances to extend the lead in the third.

Teams are 4-206 when losing the first three games of a series with the last one coming in 2014. Five other teams have won the next three games only to fall in Game 7.

"We're 20 minutes from roaming into a Game 7 and anything can happen in a Game 7," Staal said. "It's frustrating, upsetting."

The Hurricanes finished the regular season with 111 points, third-most in the league, and just behind the Rangers, whose 114 points led the NHL. They added Jake Guentzel and Evgeny Kuznetsov at the trade deadline for additional firepower in the postseason.

But their season again ended in disappointment.

"It's a special group in there," Brind'Amour said. "This is a tough way to end a really good year. These guys played their butts off all year. But this is what you're going to remember and that's the hard part. It's a business and I'd love to roll this back with these guys, but who knows how that's all going to shake out."

Series schedule