Vincent Trocheck couldn’t help but give a little snark to Jake Guentzel as he sat in the second period of Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals between the Rangers and Hurricanes on Tuesday night at the Garden.
The ESPN cameras caught the Rangers forward just staring into the penalty box, where Guentzel was seated after he took a roughing penalty against Adam Fox, and giving the Hurricanes forward a hearty thumbs-up.
“Trocheck and Guentzel are barking at each other like they did most of the second half of Game 1 right in front of me,” ESPN analyst Ray Ferraro said on the broadcast while describing what was taking place on the ice.
The humorous moment occurred with 10:13 left in the middle frame of the playoff contest with the Rangers and Hurricanes tied at two.
But Guentzel had the last laugh by the end of the second period when he scored his second goal of the game with less than two minutes left on the clock.
Jacob Trouba made a bad giveaway that allowed the Canes to get back into the offensive zone.
Sebastian Aho was able to find Guentzel with a cross-ice pass for the one-timer goal that put Carolina up 3-2, which is the way it stayed when the second-period buzzer sounded.
He already had one goal in the first after he deflected a shot by Aho from the point.
It already had been an eventful second period that included the Rangers tying the game 7:32 into the period and former Rangers defenseman Tony DeAngelo telling K’Andre Miller that he would “fight you anytime.”
Trocheck also had the last laugh when he scored the game-winning goal in double overtime to lead the Rangers to a 4-3 victory in Game 2 to give the Blueshirts a 2-0 series lead.
For Game 3, the series shifts to PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C.