NEW YORK (AP) — Defenders Brent Burns And Dmitri Orlov Carolina got off to a fast start and the Hurricanes held on to beat the New York Islanders 3-2 on Thursday night for a 3-0 lead in the first round.
Sebastian Aho also scored for the Hurricanes and Andrei Svechnikov had two assists. Frederick Andersen stopped 29 shots. Carolina won for the eighth time in nine games at UBS Arena to kick off the 2021-2022 season.
“We didn’t really play our way tonight, it wasn’t there,” Svechnikov said. “But we take the win and run away.”
Brock Nelson And Pierre Engvall scored for the Islanders. They are one loss away from being eliminated by Carolina in the first round for the second year in a row.
Ilya Sorokinthen get started Semyon Varlamov went in the first two games, was pulled in the second period after three goals on 14 shots. Varlamov came on and stopped all eight shots he faced.
“I thought it was a hard-fought game, there weren’t many chances on either side,” the Islanders coach said Patrick Roy said. “We had a good push in the third. We had our chances and the puck didn’t bounce our way.”
Trailing 3-2 in the third period, New York pushed for an equalizer and defeated Carolina 11-3, but could not get the equalizer.
“We knew it was coming, they were going to give it everything they had,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “That’s exactly what happened, but Freddy obviously came up with some huge saves and that’s the difference in the game.”
With the Hurricanes leading 3-2, Andersen made a great save when he fell backwards after a shot from Alexander Romanov about 6 1/2 minutes into the third period. The puck was briefly in the paint before the goalie covered it.
Andersen made another great save while on the ice, reaching up to grab a shot from Romanov with 5:48 left.
“If you’re going down, try to steal one and see where the puck is,” he said. “You have to see it so that it has a chance to think of something. Those are nice saves.”
Brind’Amour credited the goalkeeper with always staying level no matter the situation.
“He was very, very sharp,” he said. “It’s clearly the difference in the game. That’s kind of his attitude. You can never really tell what kind of game it is with him.”
The Islanders pulled Varlamov for an extra skater with 1:55 to go, but couldn’t get the tying goal.
“Both teams fought, sometimes you’re just a jump away.” That of New York Kyle Palmieri said. “We just have to regroup and find a way in Game 4.”
Game 4 is Saturday in New York.
Trailing 2-0 after one period, the Islanders got on the scoreboard early in the second when Engvall took a cross from Anders Lee and fired a shot between Andersen’s legs.
Aho restored the two-goal lead at 7:14 when he took a pass from Svechnikov and fired a shot from the high slot past Sorokin for his second goal of the series. That ended Sorokin’s night.
Nelson brought the Islanders back within one late in the middle period. Ryan PulockTeammate Palmieri’s shot was deflected in front and Nelson came in and quickly put it past Andersen on the right sideline with 2:21 to go.
The Islanders had a 15-9 advantage in shots in the first period, but trailed 2-0 after 20 minutes. New York’s shots in the period surpassed their total in the entire Game 2, when they managed just 12.
Burns got the Hurricanes on the scoreboard first when he fired a shot from the top of the right circle that deflected off the Islanders defenseman’s stick. Mike Reilly and past Sorokin at 4:46.
Andersen made a great glove save as he reached to his left Noah Dobson‘s attempt from the right side at 9:23 on the rebound of a Mathew Barzal shot to preserve the lead.
Orlov then beat Sorokin on the stick side from the left circle just over a minute later, extending Carolina’s lead to 2-0. It was the second goal in a row by a defender after the attackers had scored all the goals in the first two games.
The Hurricanes were without a defenseman Brett Pesce due to a lower-body injury suffered during a non-contact sequence during the second period of Game 2 on Monday night. Tony DeAngelo started in his place in a link with Brady Skjei.
