Rangers 3, Hurricanes 2 (SO): Mats Zuccarello scored the lone goal of the shootout in the first round as visiting New York skated to its fifth straight victory by claiming the opener of the home-and-home series.

After setting up J.T. Miller's power-play goal early in the third period, Zuccarello skated in and beat Cam Ward with a rising wrist shot in the opening round of the bonus format. Henrik Lundqvist, who denied Jeff Skinner on the first attempt, forced Nathan Gerbe to shoot wide before thwarting Chris Terry's bid to end the game.

Defenseman Kevin Klein scored on a wrist shot from the point with 2:23 remaining in the third period to forge a 2-2 tie. Lundqvist finished with 18 saves for the Rangers, who have won 13-of-14 against Carolina heading into Sunday's return match at Madison Square Garden.

Terry scored in his second straight contest and Skinner also tallied for the Hurricanes, who have dropped seven in a row at home to the Rangers. Elias Lindholm notched an assist to extend his point streak to three games and Ward turned aside 32 shots.

Ward thwarted a 3-on-2 rush before Carolina turned up ice, and Terry converted a centering feed from Gerbe during a 2-on-1 burst 7:20 into the first period to open the scoring. Miller tucked the puck past the extended pad of Ward on a breakaway at 4:01 of the third, but Skinner responded 26 seconds later by putting a weak backhanded shot past the right skate of Lundqvist.

GAME NOTEBOOK: New York LW Rick Nash unleashed four shots on goal but saw his career-high 11-game point streak come to an end. Nash recorded eight goals and six assists during the run. ... The Rangers nearly forged a 2-2 tie with 7:36 remaining in the third period, but officials whistled the play dead after deeming that Ward's helmet had come off prior to the goal. Video replays showed that Ward used his glove to knock off his own helmet, however. ... New York C Derick Brassard won 11-of-19 faceoffs in his return from missing two games due to the mumps.