The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the New York Islanders, 5-2, in game four of the second round to complete the best-of-seven series sweep, the first ever playoff sweep in franchise history, and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
An explosive second period, highlighted by goals from Carolina forwards Teuvo Teravainen, Greg McKegg and captain Justin Williams put the dagger in the Islanders playoff hopes. The Hurricanes outpaced the Islanders with five different goal scorers as Carolina forwards Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov also scored.
The Hurricanes scored as many goals in this game alone as the Islanders had for the entire series and have now won six straight games and eight of their last nine. One of the biggest factors has been the goaltending for the team. Current starting goaltender Curtis McElhinney and injured goaltender Petr Mrazek have been huge in each game.
“Petr and I flip-flopped all year long,” McElhinney said. “He was the hot hand heading into Playoffs and he earned that right to get that starting go in the first round and he’s been phenomenal in all the games he’s played so far. My opportunity comes at his expense unfortunately, but I just go in there and be a calm presence and give the guys an opportunity to win.”
Now the team will have at least a few days of rest as they wait for the rest of the second-round series to end. The Hurricanes had only a day of rest after defeating the Capitals in double overtime of game seven in the first round and the Isles had been resting for over a week after sweeping the Pittsburgh Penguins, so being rested isn’t always a make-or-break deal.
“I think we need a break,” said Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “I’m so proud of these guys I can’t even tell you. They just grinded and it wasn’t pretty, but I think it’s what they need, almost more mentally than anything. Will it affect us in our first game, and will we hear about that? Maybe. There might be a little rust there but we need it.”
At the start of the game, the Islanders were playing like a team on the verge of elimination, and on a power play in the opening minutes of the game, they jumped out to an early lead just two and a half minutes in as forward Mathew Barzal cashed in on a rebound in front of the Carolina net.
Carolina got its turn at the power play a few minutes later and despite severe struggles throughout the playoffs, the Hurricanes managed to score their first power play goal of the series. Aho got credit for the goal being the last Hurricanes player to touch the puck, but the actual goal scorer was Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech who was attempting to clear the puck through traffic out in front of Isles netminder Robin Lehner.
The period was marked by heavy physical play mostly by Carolina forwards Brock McGinn and Jordan Martinook who each delivered monster hits against the opposition. The physicality of the game was definitely ramped up, as it was do or die for the Islanders, but the Hurricanes were never scared to push back.
The Hurricanes stormed out for the second period notching two goals in the first few minutes with each coming only 66 seconds apart from each other.
Carolina’s second goal came courtesy of Teravainen off a tic-tac-toe play alongside Aho and forward Warren Foegele. Aho won the puck along the boards, passed it behind him to Foegele, who fed it across to Teravainen for the open net bury.
Foegele’s assist on the play tied him for the most playoff points by a rookie in franchise history, tying him with Erik Cole, who had nine points in 23 games back in 2002. It is increasingly likely that Foegele may be the Hurricanes new rookie record holder before the end of the playoffs.
A bit over a minute later, Carolina defenseman Brett Pesce put a shot on net that Lehner thought he had covered, but the puck was loose in the crease and McKegg swept it in for the game-winning goal and the first playoff goal of his career.
“It’s been a little while since I’ve been on the scoresheet and it was nice to pop one in,” McKegg said. “Our lines gotten chances throughout the series and it was nice to finally put one into the back of the net.”
Islanders head coach Barry Trotz pulled Lehner after the third goal trying to generate a spark into his team and Thomas Greiss entered the game.
This proved to be no better for the Islanders as Carolina scored another goal on the first shot Greiss faced. Williams batted an airborne dish by Carolina forward Jordan Staal out of midair for his 100th career playoff point.
The Hurricanes penalty kill got better with age, killing off a pair of penalties in the second with ease. On the other side of special teams, the Hurricanes recorded their first power play goal of the series, which has struggled so far in the playoffs.
In the third period, Carolina was putting on a defensive clinic against the Islanders and this, alongside a continued dominant forecheck, let the Hurricanes control the play in the final period.
Svechnikov tallied his third goal of the playoffs, after returning from injury in game three against the Islanders, with a beautiful snipe in all alone with Greiss. The Islanders had won an offensive zone faceoff and Faulk had won the puck back in a board battle, brought it down into the Isles zone, and dished it to Svechnikov who was in all alone.
Despite Isles centerman Brock Nelson getting the final goal in the final minute on a heavy wrister which seemed to dislodge McElhinney’s glove and trickle into the net, the Hurricanes fans never calmed down. Through all of the “Sweep” and “Let’s Go Canes” chants the franchise-record crowd of 19,495 was electric.
“We smelled blood out there,” Williams said, “But I think the fans smelled the blood more. I don’t know if you can compare it to the Stanley Cup Final, but it’s darn near close. Home-ice advantage has been something obviously that’s key for us out there.”
The Hurricanes held off the final New York surges to take game four and the series, advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals for the fourth time in team history. The Canes had previously made it to the Stanley Cup finals in 2002, losing to the Detroit Red Wings, won the Stanley Cup against the Edmonton Oilers in 2006 and lost to the eventual cup-champion Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009 in the Eastern Conference Finals, the last time Carolina were even in the Playoffs.
The Carolina Hurricanes are the first team to advance into the third round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and will play the series winner of the Boston Bruins and Columbus Blue Jackets, which are currently tied at two games apiece.
Left wing Teuvo Teravainen maintains control of the puck while in the neutral zone, Friday, May 3. Teravainen scored one goal and had one assist across 21 shifts. The Canes took down the New York Islanders, 5-2, in the second round.
