(Raleigh) Seth Jarvis drove the final nail into an empty net and added two assists, guiding the Carolina Hurricanes to a 6-3 victory over the New York Islanders on Tuesday night.
The Hurricanes took the lead for good with two goals in eight seconds in the final period, ending the Islanders’ hopes.
The Hurricanes won that series 4-1 and now face the New York Rangers, the Presidents’ Trophy winners, in the next round.
Teuvo Teravainen, Andrei Svechnikov, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Jack Drury, with his first career playoff goal, and Stefan Noesen also scored for the North Carolina team.
Brady Skjei collected two assists while Frederik Andersen stopped 22 pucks in the victory.
PHOTO JAMES GUILLORY, USA TODAY SPORTS VIA REUTERS CON
Sebastian Aho (20) and Alexander Romanov (28)
Mike Reilly, Brock Nelson and Casey Cizikas scored for the Islanders, who were eliminated by the Hurricanes for a second straight year.
Mathew Barzal participated in two goals for his team while Semyon Varlamov gave up five times in 37 shots.
Fans who weren’t stuck in the parking lot saw a wild start to the game from the Hurricanes.
The first period was only 83 seconds old when the home team opened the scoring. Jarvis recovered the puck in the corner of the Islanders zone and got past Mathew Barzal before passing to Teravainen. The Finn’s shot surprised Varlamov, who didn’t seem quite ready.
Less than two minutes later, the Hurricanes took advantage of a power play to double their lead. On the right flank, Svechnikov tried to put the puck in front of the net towards Sebastian Aho, but defender Robert Bortuzzo unintentionally beat his own goalie.
After recovering, the visitors responded just 41 seconds later. On the power play, Reilly let off a violent one-timer that hit Jordan Staal’s skate before deceiving Andersen’s vigilance.
The Hurricanes maintained a high pace for the rest of the period and were awarded a penalty shot after a player closed his hand on the puck in the semi-circle. Kuznetsov was head coach Rod Brind’Amour’s chosen one and he was very patient before outpacing Varlamov.
The tide shifted somewhat in the second period and the Islanders managed to tie the game against all odds. Nelson first saw his shot hit Jalen Chatfield before finishing his swing inside the net at 3:47. With only 22 seconds left, Cizikas took advantage of Andersen’s fall to send the disk to a deserted cage.
The lucky jumps started again in the third period, but this time, in favor of the Hurricanes.
The North Carolina team went on the attack and Skjei’s shot was blocked by Alexander Romanov. The puck, however, jumped over the blade of Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s stick, which allowed Drury to break the deadlock. Eight seconds later, Skjei’s clearance hit a metal wall and Noesen just had to push the puck into the open net.