2023 Postseason: Round 1, Game 6- Hurricanes at New York Islanders (CAR leads 3-2)

The Hurricanes will get a second chance at closing this series out after failing to do so on home ice on Tuesday night. Self-inflicted mistakes and terrible puck luck doomed the Canes as they fell behind 2-0 early in the second period on goals from Pierre Engvall and Brock Nelson. The Nelson goal was especially bad luck since it hit Sebastian Aho in the face. Paul Stastny got the Canes on the board with a beautiful deflection in the second period for his second goal of the series but a 4-on-4 goal from Mathew Barzal after terrible puck management in the neutral zone made it 3-1 before the end of the period. Aho would get a goal back with a little less than half of the third period remaining. With Raanta out of the net, the Canes threw everything they could at Ilya Sorokin to try and force overtime. Ultimately, it wasn't enough as the Islanders stayed alive with a 3-2 victory. Still, the Canes remain ahead in the series with home ice in their favor should something go horribly wrong tonight. For the sake of the entire fanbase, I'd suggest they finish things now but that's just me speaking for the group. For as rough as a game as Game 5 was, it was still just a one-goal game. If the Canes clean up those mistakes, we could be preparing for the second round by the end of the night. 

Canes Lineup

Mackenzie MacEachern-Sebastian Aho-Seth Jarvis

Jordan Martinook-Jesperi Kotkaniemi-Martin Necas

Stefan Noesen-Jordan Staal-Jesper Fast

Paul Stastny-Derek Stepan-Jesse Puljujarvi

Jaccob Slavin-Brent Burns

Brady Skjei-Brett Pesce

Shayne Gostisbehere-Jalen Chatfield

Injuries/Scratches/Extras- Teuvo Teravainen (broken hand), Jack Drury (upper-body), Antti Raanta (healthy), Vasily Ponomarev (healthy), Calvin de Haan (healthy), Dylan Coghlan (healthy), Pyotr Kochetkov (healthy)

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

Jack Drury didn't travel with the team to Long Island, meaning Vasily Ponomarev has been called up to serve as the healthy extra for the team. Otherwise, the same 18 skaters will take the ice for the Canes. The lines will remain the same and Brent Burns will skate in his 100th postseason game. 

Starting Goalies

NYI- Ilya Sorokin (2-3, 34 Saves & 2 GA in Game 5)

Sorokin returned to his usual form in Game 5 with a strong performance to keep the Islanders alive. He'll have to be equally impressive tonight as he tries to stave off elimination for a second time. He split the two games on Long Island with Game 4 being his worst performance of the series. 

CAR- Frederik Andersen (Series & Hurricanes Postseason Debut)

In one of the bigger surprises we've seen in this series, the Canes are going with Andersen instead of Raanta. Andersen hasn't played since the finale of the regular season. When he was brought in, it was expected that Andersen would be the guy for the Canes but with his health issues, he has yet to play a postseason game for the Canes before tonight. 

Scoring Summary

1st Period

(NYI) 9:21- Cal Clutterbuck (1) (assisted by Ryan Pulock (3) & Casey Cizikas (2))

2nd Period

None

3rd Period

(CAR) 9:24- Sebastian Aho (4) (assisted by Brett Pesce (2))

Overtime

(CAR) 6:01- Paul Stastny (3) (assisted by Derek Stepan (1))

Let's Talk About the Game

Through 40 minutes, I was mentally preparing myself for Sunday night. Even with it being a one-shot game, the Canes had yet to get any puck luck for two periods. Not to mention that Ilya Sorokin looked about as good as he's looked all series. As the third period went along, my mood started to shift and then the Canes tied it and I was all in on winning tonight. Once the game went to overtime, I knew the Canes were going to win this series. I'm not sure they believed it with the way the extra session started but in the end, you can never underestimate this club. The team didn't do themselves any favors with how they played in the first period. It might've been their worst of the series. The Canes were sloppy with the puck and had a few early breakdowns that forced Frederik Andersen to make some huge stops in his first playoff action of the series. One save in particular on Hudson Fasching in the opening seconds really stands out. The Canes did hit the post on an early chance as Jordan Martinook's chance had Ilya Sorokin beat. For the second straight game, the Islanders got the first goal and it came as the Canes made a brutal line change. Everyone on the ice decided to change at the same time, leaving the Islanders with plenty of time and space. Cal Clutterbuck brought the puck in and snapped one over the glove of Andersen to make it 1-0 less than ten minutes in. The team that scored first in each game went on to win the game. It wasn't looking good for the Canes. Sorokin started making big saves early as he denied a rebound chance from Brady Skjei shortly after the goal to keep it 1-0. The Canes took the game's first penalty but the kill wouldn't last long as New York took a penalty to negate it. The Islanders came inches away from making it 2-0 as Andersen made an initial stop with his mask and Shayne Gostisbehere sold out to keep the rebound chances out as Andersen covered it. The Canes would get their first full power play at the end of the period that would carry over as they didn't generate much and New York finished the period with their 1-0 lead intact. 

The remainder of the penalty would expire to start the period as the Canes looked to find some magic. Brady Skjei was forced to take a penalty as Kyle Palmieri moved in for a chance as the penalty kill hit the ice once again. As they have the entire series, the penalty kill got the job done, killing it with only a few chances allowed. Jesperi Kotkaniemi nearly had the answer for the Canes as the lines moved around. A beautiful pass from Jordan Martinook to the front of the net gave Kotkaniemi the chance and he put it off of the crossbar as the bounces continued to go in the Islanders' favor. New York hit a couple of posts of their own in the remaining minutes of the period with Zach Parise nearly finding some daylight up high and then a redirection getting the outside of the iron. It was clear that New York was trying to go after Andersen's short side because almost every chance went that way. Gostisbehere made one last strong defensive play, denying Clutterbuck of a second goal, before the end of the period. The Canes played a much better period but were in the exact same spot they were in to begin the period. 

The team that came out to play in the third period was a much different group. From the drop of the puck, Carolina was in control. Jesse Puljujarvi nearly broke through early. Andersen still had to be on his game as he denied Casey Cizikas on a 2-on-1. This would be one of two big stops he would make in the third period as he also robbed Fasching after the initial shot came to him off of the end boards. Seth Jarvis nearly powered to the front of the net and beat Sorokin but the Islanders' netminder held strong. The Canes were throwing the kitchen sink at Sorokin. It was going to take something extra dirty to get past him. Enter Sebastian Aho. The play begins with Brett Pesce hounding the Islanders down low to steal the puck. He got a pass over to Aho as he gloved it down legally and knocked it into the net past Sorokin with 10:36 left in the period to finally break the shutout and get the Canes back into the game. The Canes weren't satisfied with just one goal because they kept the pressure on Sorokin. While they had some excellent chances, Sorokin didn't break as the period ended with overtime in our sights for the second time in this series. New York came out with some life as Bo Horvat missed just wide and Brock Nelson wasn't able to finish a wrap chance. Brent Burns made a strong defensive play to deny Palmieri a chance to end the game. For as good as Sorokin's goaltending had been in this entire series, you knew that it was going to take an ugly goal to win this game. It was also going to take a big mistake from the Islanders to get it. Lo and behold, we didn't wait long for that mistake. Adam Pelech was unable to clear the zone as Derek Stepan kept the puck in at the line. He passed it down low to Paul Stastny with plenty of time and space. Stastny threw it to the front of the net, catching Sorokin by surprise, as the puck hit his right pad and went into the back of the net to put an end to the madness. The team swarmed Stastny, who had one of the most relaxed celebrations I've ever seen for a series-clinching goal, as the Canes survived and advanced. 

Big players make big plays in big moments. For the franchise's all-time leader in postseason goals, Aho has made some big plays in critical postseason games in his career and tonight was no exception. He always seems to find himself in the middle of the action in tight games of importance and tonight it resulted in the tying goal. The biggest decision of the night came before the game started as Rod Brind'Amour made the decision to go with Andersen over Antti Raanta. Clearly, it paid off in a big way. Andersen was spectacular all night as he backstopped the team to a victory. If we're being completely honest, the Canes didn't deserve to win this game based on the first 40 minutes. They earned it in the final 26:01. Kotkaniemi played his best game of the series. Jordan Martinook was in the middle of the game for most of it. Burns blocked six shots and had five shots. Gostisbehere and Jalen Chatfield were strong once again. It was going to take a village to beat the Islanders and it took all of that and some to get it done. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Jordan Martinook (7 Shots) 

I'll admit that I did not have Martinook leading the team in shots on my Bingo card tonight. He finished the game with seven shots, matching his career high, and that doesn't include the post that he hit in the first period. Martinook didn't find the scoresheet, though he came close when Kotkaniemi hit the crossbar in the second period. He had a great night, even if he didn't get rewarded. 

Second Star- Sebastian Aho (Goal)

The best player on the ice for the final three games of this series was Aho. He scored in each game but no goal was more important than the one he scored tonight. The Canes had found some life in the third with nothing to show for it until Aho tied it. While he's not known as a physical force, Aho led the team with five hits tonight to go along with his tally. 

First Star- Frederik Andersen (33 Saves)

If Andersen doesn't win this game tonight, there would be fans that would've been very vocal about the decision to start him tonight. The whispers were starting to get louder after Clutterbuck's goal. That one goal didn't affect Andersen as he stopped everything else to earn his first postseason win as a Hurricane. The move clearly paid off and we're all thanking our lucky stars we won't have to worry about Sunday. 

Around the League

Boston/Florida (Tied 3-3)- Boston was so close to finishing the series in Game 5 when Bobrovsky denied Marchard at the horn. Instead, a bad turnover cost them that game in overtime and a terrible third period cost them in Game 6 as Florida forced a Game 7 with a 7-5 victory tonight.

Toronto/Tampa Bay (TOR 3-2)- The Lightning stayed alive by winning in Toronto last night. The Maple Leafs jumped out early but Tampa Bay was quick to respond and they controlled most of the game from there as Vasilevskiy looked more like himself to force Game 6 in Florida. 

New Jersey/New York (R) (NJ 3-2)- There might as well be an ad on the side of a milk carton asking where the Rangers' offense has gone because Schmid has shut them down for three straight now. The Devils are now on the verge of advancing and most of the hockey world is shocked. 

Dallas/Minnesota (DAL 3-2)- With a 3-0 lead after the second period, the Stars look primed to finish off the Wild in Game 6. The dagger might be a goal from Marchment in the dying seconds of the second period to get it to 3-0 as Oettinger continues to look nearly unbeatable. 

Edmonton/Los Angeles (EDM 3-2)- The Oilers' offense is looking nearly impossible to slow down at the moment after a dominant win in Game 5. Both teams have been off since Tuesday night, getting an unprecedented three-day break during the first round before playing tomorrow night. 

Colorado/Seattle (SEA 3-2)- Seattle scored the first goal for the sixth time in the series but Colorado stormed back with two unanswered goals to hold a 2-1 lead midway through the second period. A Colorado win sends the series back to Denver while a Seattle victory would shock the hockey world. 

Vegas/Winnipeg (VGK 4-1)- After losing Game 1, Vegas rattled off four straight wins, including a 4-1 victory last night, to finish their series and become the first team to advance to the second round. Winnipeg didn't have an answer for Broissoit and their coach didn't mince words about his team's performance.