Carolina Hurricanes at New York Rangers

Kochetkov stops 25 shots in season debut in the Hurricanes' 3-0 victory over the Rangers

Ehlers, who signed with Carolina last summer after 10 seasons with Winnipeg, scored his first goal with the Hurricanes with 6:30 left in the opening period. Walker made it 2-0 with 3:53 to go in the second on a long shot from the right point that eluded goalie Igor Shesterkin.

Seth Jarvis added an empty-netter for his team-leading eighth goal. MIke Reilly had two assists.

Kochetkov missed the start of the season because of a lower-body injury. He won 27 games for Carolina last season. The 26-year-old Russian made a point-blank stop on Rangers captain J.T. Miller just over two minutes into the middle period during a power play. The shutout was the 11th of his career.

The Rangers had a three-game winning streak snapped. They are winless at home with just six goals in six games.

New York is 0-5-1 at Madison Square Garden and 6-1-1 on the road. Five of the goals came in a 6-5 overtime loss to San Jose on Oct. 23. The Rangers have been blanked four times at home.

The Hurricanes improved to 8-4-0. Carolina won for the third time in seven games after a 5-0-0 start.

Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal played his 909th game with Carolina, tying brother Eric’s mark for the most games played in Hurricanes history.

Up next Hurricanes: Host Minnesota on Thursday night.

Rangers: At Detroit on Friday night.

CAR leads series 1-0