Canes Corner

The Carolina Hurricanes got off to a super start in a 5-1 win over the Devils to open up their best-of-seven series.  Brett Pesce and Seth Jarvis each scored during a dominant opening period that saw Carolina out-shoot New Jersey 10-1.  Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Brady Skjei and Jesper Fast would add goals and Frederik Andersen made 17 saves in the win.  He's 2-0 in the playoffs with 50 saves on 52 shots on goal.  Also starring, Carolina's penalty kill which was 2 for 2 on the night and has now stopped 19 of 20 power plays this postseason.  Game 2 is Friday night at 8:00 at PNC Arena.

Paul Stastny's 3rd goal of the series, 6 minutes into overtime, gave the Hurricanes a 2-1 win over the Islanders and ended the series in Game 6 on Long Island.  Trailing 1-0 midway through the 3rd period, Sebastian Aho batted down a puck and then backhanded it past Ilya Sorokin to even the score.  Frederik Andersen made his first playoff start in a Hurricanes uniform and stopped 33 shots for the win and closed out a postseason series for the first time in 8 years.  His last series-ending win was on May 10, 2015 when his Anaheim Ducks knocked off the Calgary Flames in the Western Conference semifinals.  The Canes await the winner of the series between the Devils and Rangers in the second round.

The Hurricanes played well, but were victim to a couple of costly mistakes in a 3-2 loss at PNC Arena in Game 5.  The series now shifts back to Long Island for Game 6 on Friday night.  Brent Burns and Jaccob Slavin combined on a 1st period miscue that ended up on Pierre Engvall's stick and he slid the puck underneath the left pad of Antti Raanta for a 1-0 lead.  Then, New York got a fortunate bounce as an Engvall shot deflected off the face of Sebastian Aho and fell to Brock Neslon at the side of the goal.  Nelson batted the puck in out of the air for a 2-0 lead.  Paul Stastny brought a goal back on a deflection of a Jalen Chatfield point shot.  But, the Isles restored the 2-goal margin late in the 2nd period after Martin Necas had the puck stolen from him at the blue line leading to a Matt Barzal goal.  Sebastian Aho closed out the scoring midway through the 3rd on a beautiful pass from Seth Jarvis but Carolina couldn't find the equalizer.

Seth Jarvis scored his first two goals of the series to back up a 27-save Antti Raanta performance as the Carolina Hurricanes ran over the New York Islanders, 5-2 in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.  The Hurricanes have a 3 games to 1 lead in the series and can close it out Tuesday night in Raleigh.  With the Islanders trying to intimidate the Hurricanes with -- at times -- excessive, post-whistle physicality, Carolina's only effecitve mode of response is to score goals.  Seth Jarvis answered Ryan Pulock's boarding of Jack Drury with a 5-on-3 power play goal to open the scoring.  Then, after Matt Martin leveled MacKenzie MacEachern after the horn at the end of the period, Martin Necas opened the second with a power play goal to make it 2-0.  Sebastian Aho, Jarvis and MacEachern added goals.  Aho had a 3-point game and MacEachern also had an assist in his Hurricanes debut after spending all season with the Chicago Wolves in the American Hockey League.  Carolina is 5 for 19 on the power play in the series while the Isles are just 1 for 12.

The Carolina Hurricanes 5th penalty was the breaking point as Kyle Palmeiri's deflection from outside of the goal got past Antti Raanta to give the Islanders a 2-1 late 3rd period lead en route to a 5-1 win on Long Island.  Carolina still leads the series 2 games to 1 with Game 4 Sunday afternoon.  The Canes lone goal came from Jesper Fast who scored shorthanded on a feed from Jordan Staal to even the score at 1-1 late in the 2nd period.  New York was 1 for 5 on the power play while the Hurricanes were 0 for 3.  

Jesper Fast scored at 5:03 of overtime as the Hurricanes rallied to beat the Islanders, 4-3, and take a 2-0 series lead in their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series.  The Canes and Isles will play Game 3 on Friday night on Long Island.  Carolina had a 2-0 lead midway through the 2nd period thanks to a Paul Stastny goal and an own goal off the stick of New York defenseman Sebastian Aho.  But, some loose play and shaky goaltending saw the Islanders take a 3-2 lead on goals from Kyle Palmeiri, Matthew Barzal and Brock Nelson.  But, Jaccob Slavin scored off Ilya Sorokin from behind the goal line  with less than 8 minutes to play in regularion setting up Fast's overtime heroics.  Carolina lost forward Teuvo Teravainen to a broken hand on a late 3rd period slash, he'll have surgery on Thursday and is out indefinitely.

Sebastian Aho and Stefan Noesen each scored on the power play and Antti Raanta stopped 24 shots as the Carolina Hurricanes took game 1 of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Series from the New York Islanders, 2-1.  The Canes scored on each of their first two tries with the man advantage and Raanta won his 3rd consecutive series-opening game for Carolina.  Carolina's penalty kill was also stellar, shutting the Isles out on 4 opportunities.  New York registered 3 shots on goal during their first attempt, but just 1 on their other three combined.  Brent Burns and Martin Necas each had 2 assists on the night.  Game 2 is Wednesday night at PNC Arena.

The Hurricanes survived a gong show of a 3rd period in a 6-4 win over the Panthers as they claim their second straight Metropolitan Division title.  Brent Burns scored twice, including the go-ahead goal in the 3rd period after the Panthers erased a 2-0 deficit in the first 3 and a half minutes of the frame.  His first goal opened the scoring in the 1st period, but the Canes, who had so many chances to put the game away early, carried just a 2-0 lead into the 3rd.  And, when the Panthers quickly drew even it was up to Burns to do it again.  His 2nd of the game and 18th of the year found it's way from the blue line, through traffic and past Alex Lyon for the goal that put the Canes ahead to stay.  Jesper Fast doubled the lead just 21 seconds later.  Shayne Gostibehere and Sebastian Aho would add empty net goals before the final horn.  Carolina will meet the New York Islanders in the series that begins either Monday or Tuesday of next week.

Antti Raanta made 20 saves, Stefan Noesen, Jordan Martinook, Brent Burns and Jesperi Kotkaniemi all scored as the Canes beat Detroit, 4-1, ending a 3-game losing streak.  The two points earned also means that Carolina can do no worse than finish second in the division, thus they will have home ice advantage for at least their opening round series.  The Hurricanes can clinch the Motropolitan Division on Thursday by beating the Panthers in Florida.  Carolina can also win the divisioin with a loss, either in regulation or in overtime, as long as their result at least matches that of the Devils who will close out their season in Wshington.  

The Carolina Hurricanes dropped their third straight game -- all on the road -- losing to the Senators, 3-2.  Claude Giroux had two goals and an assist for the Senators who broke a a 2-2 tie in the 3rd with a 4-on-4 goal and hung on the rest of the way.  The Canes fell behind 2-0 in the 1st period, but fought back behind goals from Brett Pesce and Brent Burns (PPG) to tie the game early in the 3rd.  But, they couldn't find a third after Giroux restored Ottawa to the lead.  Carolina still leads the Metropolitan Division by 1 point with 2 games to play.  They'll host Detroit in the home finale Tuesday night while the Devils host the Buffalo Sabres.