Read the reports of Monday’s games played in the NHL playoffs.
Sebastian Aho and Stefan Noesen scored on the power play to help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New York Islanders 2-1 on Monday to take a 1-0 lead in their first-round series.
Noesen’s deflection off Brent Burns’ shot proved to be the game-winning goal after 2:27 into the second half. Antti Raanta stopped 25 shots in the win.
The Hurricanes were perfect on four shorthanded runs, and held off the last minute and a half of play in his own territory when the Islanders pulled Ilya Sorokin for an extra forward.
Ryan Pulock beat Raanta early in the second period as the Islanders needed that late 2-0 goal. It was, however, the last goal scored in the game.
Sorokin finished the game with 35 saves for the Islanders, including a nice save midway through the third against Seth Jarvis.
The Hurricaines are in the playoffs for the fifth straight season. They won the last two games of their season to clinch the Metropolitan Division title for the third year in a row.
Mathew Barzal was back in the Islanders roster after missing the last 23 games with a lower-body injury.
Aaron Beard, Associated Press