Paul Stastny scored six minutes into overtime Friday night as the Carolina Hurricanes advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals with a 2-1 win over the New York Islanders in Elmont, N.Y.
Stastny sent an angled shot from the goal line past Ilya Sorokin as the Hurricanes won the first-round series 4-2 and will face the winner of the New Jersey Devils-New York Rangers series in the conference semifinals. The Devils lead the Rangers 3-2 heading into Saturday night’s Game 6 in New York.
Sebastian Aho scored about midway through the third period for the Hurricanes. Goalie Frederik Andersen, who drew the start after sitting out the first five games behind Antti Raanta, made 33 saves.
Cal Clutterbuck scored in the first for the Islanders, who reached the playoffs for the seventh time in 11 seasons but were eliminated in the first round for the first time since 2015. Sorokin recorded 39 saves.
A turnover by the Hurricanes led to Clutterbuck’s goal at the 9:21 mark.
The Islanders’ Matt Martin checked Jesperi Kotkaniemi just after Kotkaniemi sent a clearing pass up the ice. Casey Cizikas gloved the puck in the neutral zone and dropped it to Ryan Pulock, who hit Clutterbuck streaking up the right side of the ice.
Clutterbuck fired a shot beyond Shayne Gostisbehere’s extended stick, beyond Andersen and off the top post.
The Islanders outshot the Hurricanes 17-11 in the second period but went 0-for-2 on the power play. New York had its best chances to double the lead in 5-on-5 play in the final two minutes, when Andersen turned back Zach Parise and Clutterbuck couldn’t take advantage of a faulty clearing pass by Andersen.
The Hurricanes dominated the third period, when they outshot the Islanders 19-5, and finally tied the score following a chaotic sequence with 10:36 left. Sorokin batted a shot by Seth Jarvis out of the air, but Brock Nelson couldn’t clear the puck. Brett Pesce collected the puck and passed to Aho, who was to the left of the crease when he fluttered a shot past Sorokin.
–Field Level Media
