go through Vin A. Cherwoo |
The Islanders were deadlocked in another tense game against the Carolina Hurricanes until a big goal in the final moments kicked off a record scoring explosion and gave New York a home victory after a two-goal loss on the road.
Kyle Palmieri and Matt Martin scored with 44 seconds left in the third quarter as the Islanders beat the Hurricanes 5-1 on Friday night to cut the deficit to 2-1 in the first-round series.
Casey Cizikas, Scott Mayfield and Anders Lee also scored as New York scored four goals in a late 2:18 – the fastest four in Stanley Cup playoff history – Opened the score. Ilya Sorokin stopped 30 shots for the Islanders.
“We know every game is going to be a battle,” Palmieri said. “We persevered and found a way to finally pass.”
Jesper Fast scored for the Hurricanes and Antti Raanta made 32 saves.
“It was a tough end,” Carolina coach Rod Blind-Amur said. “It was a close game and then ended up getting out of there. We’ll regroup and come back for the next one.”
On Sunday, Game 4 will be at the UBS Arena.
The Islanders had two strong attacks in the first half of the third quarter, but there were not many scoring opportunities. Raanta then denied Bo Horvat a close-range attempt with 6 1/2 minutes left to make it 1-1. About 40 seconds later, the Hurricanes goaltender made a sliding, spreading save on a Noah Dobson attempt.
With 1 second left in another Islanders power play, defenseman Sebastian Aho shoots from the right, Palmieri deflects past Raanta from the air 3 minutes and 51 seconds left.
“The puck was getting wider, but he hit it wide,” Raanta said. “Those are the goals that happen in the playoffs. It’s hard to save when the puck is wide. That’s a good cue. … At the end of the day, it’s a loss and you have to learn from it.”
martin then Made it 3-1 after just 44 seconds When he received a pass from Palmieri, he quickly beat Ranta down the left.
The Hurricanes pulled Raanta in for an extra skater with 2 1/2 minutes left, Mayfield scores a long-range empty net 1 minute and 49 seconds left. With the goalie back and Lee taking the lead 16 seconds later, the Islanders made playoff history with a four-goal outburst.
“I think we played really well,” Cizikas said of the Islanders’ performance before the scoring breakout. “We’ve been doing what we set out to do from the beginning. We haven’t shied away from it. We’ve been rolling four lines and we’ve been chasing them.”
A game that was physical from the start saw a lot of shoving in the final minute, with Lee and Carolina’s Jalen Chatfield receiving misconduct penalties.
Carolina had three power plays in 11 1/2 minutes from the final minute of the first quarter to the middle of the second, but only had three field goals during the dominant period.
“(The penalty shootout) was big in the second quarter,” Islanders coach Ryan Lambert said. “The game could have changed the momentum, but we did really well.”
Cizikas then put the Islanders up 1-0 as he got a pass from Ryan Pulock after the defense kept the puck in the offensive zone and beat Raanta from the right with 7:11 left in the second period.
The Hurricanes tied the game with a short-handed goal with 3:04 left, Jordan Starr throwing the ball into Sorokin on a fast break from the right. The puck was in the crease rolling toward the goal line when trailing Islanders forward Brock Nelson appeared to tip the puck. It was the second game of the series after Fast scored an overtime winner in Game 2.
During the first playoff game at UBS Arena the following year, a raucous home crowd yelled at a dropped puck. The Islanders had their first power play late in the third quarter of Game 1 when Carolina’s Shayne Gostisbehere was whistled at 7:50. New York didn’t have a strong game in Game 2, and the Hurricanes won 1-6.
Sorokin stifled Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s shot on the left doorstep in the opening four minutes and put Martin Nekas ( Martin Necas) saves from the left. Sorokin also made two big saves on Brent Burns early on in Carolina’s powerhouse with about 30 seconds left in the first quarter.
Above: The New York Islanders celebrate against the Carolina Hurricanes during Game 3 of Game 3 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in El Monte, N.Y., Friday, April 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Brian Woolston)
