Tuesday's NHL playoffs: Islanders beat Hurricanes, cut series deficit to 3-2
Raleigh, N.C. – The New York Islanders were ready to capitalize, both on a bizarre bounce of the puck and mistakes by the Carolina Hurricanes. That was enough to keep them alive in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Brock Nelson scored by knocking in an airborne puck that had bounced off the face of Carolina’s Sebastian Aho, and the Islanders added two goals following turnovers to beat the Hurricanes 3-2 on Tuesday night and extend their first-round playoff series.
The Islanders trailed 3-1 in the best-of-seven series, but staved off elimination by scoring the game’s first two goals and never trailing while playing in front of a rowdy crowd eager to see the Hurricanes become the first team to advance to this year’s second round.
“We believe in one another, we believe in this group and what we can do and how we can play,” Islanders captain Anders Lee said. “That was no different coming into this evening. … We came in tonight and played a very solid hockey game and put everything on the line.”
Mathew Barzal had the winner, taking a turnover by Martin Necas the other way to beat Antti Raanta late in the second period for a 3-1 lead. Carolina closed to within one midway through the third, but Ilya Sorokin and the Islanders tenaciously held that lead as the Hurricanes ran extended zone time with an empty-net attacker desperately seeking a late equalizer.
Instead, New York sent the series back to UBS Arena for Friday’s Game 6.
Pierre Engvall got the Islanders a lead midway through the first period after getting a 1-on-1 shot at Raanta off Carolina’s failed clear, while Sorokin finished with 34 saves to lead the Islanders.
Aho – who exited briefly after Nelson’s goal – and Paul Stastny scored for the Hurricanes, who were coming off a 5-2 win that ended an eight-game postseason road losing streak dating to 2021.
The Hurricanes certainly would’ve preferred to close this one out Tuesday considering how they’re grinding forward with an injury-depleted group of forwards – including top names like Andrei Svechnikov (season-ending knee injury) and Teuvo Teravainen (broken hand suffered in Game 2).
Aho’s score off a behind-the-net feed from Seth Jarvis cut the deficit to 3-2 midway through the third period. But the Hurricanes came up short on a night that included the Islanders successfully challenging a first-period put-away on Stefan Noesen’s one-timer for coming on an uncalled offsides as Carolina pushed into the zone with the man advantage.
Raanta finished with 19 saves, while Aho and defenseman Brent Burns both rang the post on a frustrating night for the Hurricanes. And now, they’ll have to win on the road again to avoid a Game 7 at home Sunday.
"I like the way we played, played hard," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. “We had a couple of mistakes that cost us, but there wasn’t a ton of those. It's just the bounces didn’t go our way. It’s very simple.”
Nelson’s goal stood out. He swung at the puck after it had struck Aho near the mouth and was falling to the ice, batting it past Raanta on the right side early in the second for a wild score.
“(Engvall) with his speed and size kind of found himself in the slot with a little lane,” Nelson said. "Unfortunate it hits a guy in the face. For me it was nice, it was right there and I was able to get a stick on it in the air and go in.”
Aho eventually skated back to the bench while doubled over, then straight to the locker room. He returned midway through the period after getting stitches.
“I just kind of didn't know what hit me," Aho said. "It came pretty quickly there. Obviously the guy was probably not aiming for my face either. Yeah, it's hockey, it happens."
More Tuesday games
(At) Dallas 4, Minnesota 0: Tyler Seguin and Jason Robertson each had a power-play goal and an assist, Roope Hintz had three assists for the second straight game and the Stars took the series lead on Tuesday.
Jake Oettinger had 27 saves in his second career playoff shutout. That included the 24-year-old goalie stopping nine shots when the Wild had back-to-back power plays in quick succession in the second period.
Seguin's fourth power-play goal of the series came only 2:22 into the game, eight seconds after Wild forward Marcus Foligno's five-minute major penalty and game misconduct for a knee-on-knee hit on Radek Faksa.
Mason Marchment scored early in the second period and Ty Dellandrea added an empty-netter with 3:57 left.
The Stars will try to close out the first-round playoff series Friday night in Game 6 at Minnesota, where the home team will be trying to avoid another opening-round defeat. The seventh game, if needed, would be Sunday in Dallas.
Faksa remained face down on the ice after the collision with Foligno near the blue line, which came right after the Stars center had knocked the puck out of the air with his hand. Faksa had to be helped off the ice once he got up, but returned to the game midway through the first period.
The major penalty was upheld and the game misconduct issued after officials reviewed the play.
Seguin put Dallas ahead to stay with his second-effort tally on the rebound of a shot by Robertson, who then made it 2-0 midway through the first on his 35-foot wrister through the legs of Filip Gustavsson. It was the second goal and fourth assist of the series for Robertson, who became the first 100-point scorer for Dallas this season.
Gustavsson, Minnesota's 24-year-old goalie, has started the last three games since three-time Stanley Cup champion Marc-Andre Fleury was in net for Game 2 when Dallas evened the series with a 7-3 win. Gustavsson stopped 21 shots Tuesday.
With Joe Pavelski in concussion protocol since Game 1, Seguin has moved up to the top line with Robertson and Hintz, and had a bigger role on the power play. Seguin, who played in his 100th career playoff game, is the only Stars player with a Stanley Cup title – that was as a 19-year-old rookie with Boston in 2011.
The now 31-year-old Seguin is the first player in Stars franchise history with four power-play goals in a single playoff series. The last time a Dallas player had as many in a playoff year was in 2008, when Mike Modano had five and Brenden Morrow 4.
Seguin had two power-play goals in the Stars’ 3-2 victory in Game 4 on Sunday night that evened the series. Both of those also came after Foligno penalties.
Hintz also scored a goal in the series opener, then had a hat trick with an assist in Game 2. His 11 points (four goals, seven assists) are the most in a single playoff series for Dallas, his assist on Marchment’s goal snapping his tie with Mike Modano, Sergei Zubov and Jamie Benn.
Dallas has nine power-play goals in in the series.
Minnesota was 0 for 3 with a man-advantage in Game 5, with all of its power plays in the second period. The Wild didn't even get a shot on goal on the last one, when the Stars blocked four shots before they could get to the net.