Carolina’s Jack Drury and Stefan Noesen scored eight seconds apart in the third period as the Hurricanes emerged from a tie and earned a series-clinching, 6-3 victory against the New York Islanders in Game 5 on Tuesday in Raleigh, N.C.
The Hurricanes won the Eastern Conference first-round playoff series 4-1, earning a date with the Presidents’ Trophy-winning New York Rangers in the next round.
Drury scored short side from the left circle to make it 4-3 at 4:36 of the third.
After the ensuing faceoff, New York goalie Semyon Varlamov went behind the net to play a dump-in, but the puck bounced off the left corner wall to the near post and out front, and Noesen was there to poke it into the open net.
“It was a good bounce that went our way there,” Noesen said. “Sometimes in a couple of other games, we didn’t really get them, so that one was fortunate for us.”
Brady Skjei assisted on both the Drury and Noesen goals.
“I feel like we deserve a little bit better,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “And I’m not saying we should have won that series. I’m saying that we could go home right now and play game No. 6 easily, and instead, it’s over. It feels empty.”
Seth Jarvis added a late empty-net goal and had two assists, while Evgeny Kuznetsov had a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes. Carolina’s Teuvo Teravainen and Andrei Svechnikov also scored, and Frederik Andersen made 22 saves.
Brock Nelson had a goal and an assist, Mathew Barzal and Ryan Pulock each had two assists, and Varlamov made 32 saves for the Islanders. Mike Reilly and Casey Cizikas contributed New York’s other goals.
Cizikas’ tally tied the game late in the second period after the Hurricanes had built a 3-1 lead.
“We knew we kinda, I don’t want to say let off the gas, but we let them kinda crawl back into it in the second, and you never want to do that, especially a team like that who can score and just the momentum it gives them,” Jarvis said. “But, I mean, we have so many good veterans, they kept us calm. We never really got flustered. They made sure we knew what was at stake, and just came out in the third and executed.”
Teravainen gave Carolina a 1-0 lead at 1:23 of the first period, snapping a shot that went off Varlamov’s glove and hit the inside of the far post.
Svechnikov made it 2-0 on the power play at 3:13 of the first. He carried the puck up the right side to the half-wall and sent a backhand toward the net that hit the stick of New York defenseman Robert Bortuzzo and deflected past Varlamov.
Reilly cut it to 2-1 on a power play 41 seconds later, firing a rising shot from the blue line that beat Andersen above his left shoulder.
Kuznetsov put the hosts ahead 3-1 when he converted on a penalty shot at 13:22 of the first, moving in slowly before snapping it blocker side on Varlamov as the goalie attempted a pokecheck. Carolina was awarded the penalty shot after Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov closed his hand on the puck in the crease.
Nelson pulled the visitors within one at 3:47 of the second period, connecting on a feed from Kyle Palmieri on the rush from the high slot.
Cizikas’ one-timer from the high slot tied it 3-3 at 19:38 of the second.
–Field Level Media
