2023 Postseason: Round 1, Game 1- Hurricanes v. New York Islanders

The chase for the Stanley Cup begins tonight and the Hurricanes have high aspirations. After losing in Game 7 of the second round last season, the team fought it out to the final night to win their third straight division crown and ensure a meeting with the first Wild Card team. The finale in Sunrise against the Florida Panthers was pretty until it got very ugly at the end. The Canes led 2-0 after two periods on goals by Brent Burns and Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Florida scored twice in the first four minutes of the third period, capitalizing on some mistakes from the Canes, to tie the game at two. Rod Brind'Amour called his timeout and lit a fire under his team and they responded with two goals in 21 seconds from Burns and Jesper Fast to retake a two-goal lead almost as quickly as they gave it up. The score would remain 4-2 until Shayne Gostisbehere left the penalty box and immediately scored into the empty net to seemingly put the game out of reach. The Panthers didn't go quietly, scoring twice 48 seconds apart to bring it back within one goal with 1:24. Sebastian Aho would put the nail in the Panthers' coffin with an empty-net goal with 1:00 left as the Canes ran the clock down to win 6-4 and secure the Metropolitan Division. 

1st Round Opponent: New York Islanders (42-31-9, 93 Points, 4th in the Metropolitan, 1st WC)

Carolina's regulation win over Florida on Thursday night meant that they would be facing the New York Islanders in the 1st Round as it gave New York, who finished their season the night before, the 1st Wild Card spot. The Islanders needed a win in the season finale on Wednesday night when they hosted Montreal and that's exactly what they got. They held a 2-1 lead after the first period with Brock Nelson and Hudson Fasching finding the back of the net and a 3-2 lead after the second with Nelson scoring his second of the night. New York shut down the Canadiens' offensive attack and added a goal of their own late as Anders Lee scored on the power play to put the game away for a 4-2 win and a guaranteed playoff spot. The Islanders played most of the second half without their best offensive weapon but Mathew Barzal will be ready for tonight's game. With New York, you know a little about what you're getting. They are a sound defensive team that will limit opportunities and lulls you to sleep sometimes. If you allow them to do that, they'll find ways to score and beat you. Despite their being a Wild Card team, they are not going to be an easy out. 

Season Series

The Canes won three of the four games against New York this season. The Islanders took the first of the series in Raleigh at the beginning of the season before the Canes rattled off three straight, including both games on Long Island. These two met 15 days ago in Raleigh, a 2-1 victory for the Canes. 

Canes Lineup

Teuvo Teravainen--Sebastian Aho-Seth Jarvis

Stefan Noesen-Jesperi Kotkaniemi-Martin Necas

Jordan Martinook-Jordan Staal-Jesper Fast

Jack Drury-Paul Stastny-Derek Stepan

Jaccob Slavin-Brent Burns

Brady Skjei-Brett Pesce

Shayne Gostisbehere-Jalen Chatfield

Injuries/Scratches- Jesse Puljujarvi (healthy), Calvin de Haan (healthy), Dylan Coghlan (healthy), Pyotr Kochetkov (healthy)

IR- Andrei Svechnikov (Torn ACL), Max Pacioretty (Achilles), Ondrej Kase (concussion)

The Hurricanes' opening game lineup will look very similar to the lineup on Friday. The only exception among the skaters is Derek Stepan drawing in for Jesse Puljujarvi. 

Starting Goalies

NYI- Ilya Sorokin (31-22-7, 2.34 GAA, .924 SV%, 6 SHO in 62 games)

This is a bit of a no-brainer for the Islanders as they'll turn to Sorokin. This will be Sorokin's sixth postseason start and his first since the second round in 2021 against Boston. He lost his starting job to Varlamov during that series with Boston, only playing twice in relief in the Eastern Conference Finals against Tampa Bay. 

CAR- Antti Raanta (19-3-3, 2.23 GAA, .910 SV%, 4 SHO in 27 games)

The Canes will ride with the hot hand of Raanta to start the series. He was their starter for most of last season's playoffs with Andersen on the shelf, making 13 starts and going 6-5 before the Canes fell in the second round to the Rangers. This will be his 14th postseason start and the first time this season that he'll be facing the Islanders. 

Scoring Summary

1st Period

(CAR) 3:47- Sebastian Aho (1) PP (assisted by Brent Burns (1) & Martin Necas (1))

2nd Period

(CAR) 2:27- Stefan Noesen (1) PP (assisted by Brent Burns (2) & Martin Necas (2))

(NYI) 2:51- Ryan Pulock (1) (unassisted)

3rd Period

None

Let's Talk About the Game

If tonight is any indication, this series is going to be hard-hitting and a defensive struggle. My largest concern about the Canes entering this series was whether the power play would be able to start over and find some success. While I won't they're back, they played a huge part in this game. It was very clear that the Islanders are going to be the aggressors as Jack Drury was absolutely flattened on the game's first shift. The Canes' power play would get an early chance and before the audible groans had subsided, Sebastian Aho scored the first goal of the series and the playoffs just five seconds into the man advantage to send PNC Arena into a frenzy. It was a perfectly designed play on the draw as Brent Burns found Aho with no one near him as he slapped it short-side on Ilya Sorokin. The Canes continued to control the play until they would take their first penalty of the night after Paul Stastny took a slashing penalty in the offensive zone. The Canes' penalty kill bent but did not break as they withstood a mini flurry from the Islanders to get the job done for the first time in the series. While they didn't score, the Islanders absolutely gained some momentum from these two minutes. They started throwing shots from every angle, forcing Antti Raanta to respond. Brady Skjei would be assessed an interference in the final minute of the period and as the Canes killed the first minutes, it would carry over to the second period, but so too would their 1-0 lead. 

The kill would do its job, killing the final minute of the period by suffocating them the entire time. Shortly after the kill, we had a very weird situation. To everyone in the arena and everyone at home, it looked like Stefan Noesen scored a goal on the backdoor. It was very clear that something black flew into the net. Everyone stopped playing and the horn was sounding, but there was no indication of a goal from the referees. After showing the replay, it was clear that the puck didn't go into the net and that it was part of Noesen's stick. While it wasn't a goal, the Canes did get another power play. They took a little longer than five seconds but they would convert again and this time Noesen made sure the puck went into the net. He redirected a point shot by Burns past Sorokin to make it 2-0. The Islanders responded very quickly. Raanta only made one mistake in this game and it was a costly one. During a delayed penalty, Ryan Pulock walked down from the point and miss-hit a shot but got just enough of it to fool Raanta. The Canes' goalie went to poke at the puck but was a smidge too early as the puck rode up his stick and into the net. It took all of 24 seconds for New York to respond and make it a one-goal game once again. The Islanders would follow the goal with two successful penalty kills to halt the Canes' momentum on the power play. Skjei would take another penalty in the later stages of the second period but the kill would stand tall for the third time. Noesen nearly found the back of the net a second time but was thwarted in the final seconds as the Canes kept a 2-1 lead moving into the third period. 

The start of the third made it perfectly clear that Raanta had forgotten about the bad goal he allowed. Within the first minute of the third period, he made two giant stops on Anders Lee and Pierre Engvall one-on-one to keep the game in the Canes' favor. It led to the Canes getting some chances on the other end, the best coming from Burns as he walked into the play. He fired a backhand that got through Sorokin and sat in the crease before being cleared out. Sorokin made an equally huge save on Seth Jarvis as he was forced to go from post to post. The game seemed to hit a bit of a lull until Burns was called for a penalty with less than five minutes to go. It forced the Canes into a huge kill to try and put this game away. Their fourth kill might've been their best one of the night. It probably should've ended when Skjei took a stick up high and blood was drawn but they settled in and got the job done. We even got some Aho on Aho violence as the Canes' Aho told the Islanders' Aho to sit down. Sorokin would make his way to the bench with 90 seconds left and the Canes' defense continued to shut things down. Raanta kicked away from late chances as the final horn sounded with the Caniacs going wild and the team surrounding their goalie after a 2-1 victory. 

Both goalies were excellent tonight. There really wasn't anything Sorokin could've done on either of the goals he allowed on the power play. He made some spectacular saves to keep his team in the game as he tried to steal one for New York. On the other end, Raanta really didn't allow the one goal to faze him. It was a bad goal and he'll likely admit that because it was a very soft shot. Still, he made some game-saving saves at the beginning of the third period and didn't break at the end of the game during the Islanders' 6-on-5 with Sorokin on the bench. In front of Raanta, the Hurricanes played an excellent game. The second line with Noesen, Martin Necas, and Jesperi Kotkaniemi was very good all night. They were on the ice for the New York goal but they were generating at 5-on-5 and on the power play. Necas recorded assists on both goals. Noesen scored a goal and almost scored a few more times. Kotkaniemi didn't get rewarded with a point but he was firing the puck and setting up his teammates the entire game. The defensemen were also killing it tonight on both ends of the ice. It was clearly a group effort as the Canes got out ahead of the series by taking the first game at home. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Stefan Nosen (Goal)

The puck doesn't lie and while he didn't score when we all thought he did, Noesen got the one on the power play and it served as the game-winner at the end of the night. He was very close to getting a second goal at the end of the period too. Noesen was also very physical tonight, leading the team with six hits and blocking three shots. This was a great start to the series for him. 

Second Star- Martin Necas (2 Assists)

While I was concerned about the power play before tonight's game, I also wanted to see if Necas' season was a fluke. It might've just been one game but he was dynamic tonight. He recorded secondary assists on both of the goals for the Canes. Necas tied with Martinook tonight for the most time on the ice among the forward group (18:53). He also laid a couple of hits and blocked a few shots. 

First Star- Brent Burns (2 Assists)

At this point, I shouldn't be surprised by what Burns can do at his age. Still, Burns was one of the best players on the ice tonight in his playoff debut with the Hurricanes. He led the team with six shots, he laid three hits, and he grabbed the primary assist on both goals tonight. The first assist was a beautiful pass and the second came together because of how quickly the puck got off of his stick. Burns picked up where he left off in the final week, now with six points in four games. 

Around the League

Boston/Florida (BOS 1-0)- Even with a lot of guys under the weather, the Bruins continued to find ways to win as their stars led them to a win in Game 1. Pastrnak, Marchand, and DeBrusk scored for Boston as Ullmark allowed just one goal. 

Toronto/Tampa Bay (Starts Tuesday)- The defending Eastern Conference champions will get their postseason started on Tuesday night in Toronto. The Maple Leafs are considered by many to be more complete than they have been as they look to break their postseason series win drought. 

New Jersey/New York (R) (Starts Tuesday)- This is the series that most Islanders and Hurricanes fan will be keeping their eye on as the winner of the Canes/Islanders series will meet the winner of this series. I think this is the series to watch in the 1st round regardless of whether you'll play them next. 

Dallas/Minnesota (Started Tonight)- As of when I'm writing this, the game is heading into the third period with each side tied at two. The major development of this game is the head injury to Joe Pavelski that I'm willing to bet is going to keep him out for a little while. 

Edmonton/Los Angeles (Started Tonight)- This game is also currently ongoing with Edmonton ahead 2-0 in the second period on goals from Draisail and Bouchard. This game has been very physical and has been largely dominated by the Oilers. 

Colorado/Seattle (Starts Tuesday)- Seattle will make their postseason debut tomorrow night as they begin their journey in Denver against the defending champs. Colorado's firepower makes them the heavy favorite to win but don't count out the Kraken. 

Vegas/Winnipeg (Starts Tuesday)- The top seed in the Western Conference will also get going tomorrow night as Jack Eichel will make his postseason debut against the Jets. Hellebuyck will be called upon to steal some games for Winnipeg as they look for the upset.