NEW YORK _ It's not the most conventional way to earn a hat trick, but Michael Grabner will take it.
Grabner potted two empty-netters late in the third after putting the Rangers ahead in the second, giving them a 5-1 win Friday night over Carolina. Grabner has a team-leading 13 goals, and six of them have come with an empty net.
Ryan McDonagh, who missed the previous four games with an ab strain, assisted on the goal which made it 3-1. Carolina unsuccessfully challenged offside on Grabner's third goal, giving the Rangers a power play on which Paul Carey converted.
The Rangers (14-10-2) preserved the one-goal lead they held entering the third in part thanks to a Henrik Lundqvist save on a Jeff Skinner penalty shot 3:20 in.
Trailing 1-0 heading through 20 minutes, the Rangers scored twice within the first 1:52 of the second period, and the first of those two was a gift by Hurricanes goaltender Scott Darling, his second present for the Rangers in 10 days.
With the Rangers on their third power play of the night, Darling couldn't handle a bouncing puck outside his crease, and David Desharnais pounced on the loose puck after Darling's miscue and with an open net tied the game. On Thanksgiving Eve in Raleigh, Darling whiffed with his glove and surrendered a goal on a red-line floater from Mika Zibanejad, who missed Friday's game with concussion symptoms.
Just 1:15 later at four-on-four, Kevin Shattenkirk centered for a streaking Grabner off the rush and Grabner netted his first goal, which at the time tied with Zibanejad for the team lead.
