For most of Friday night’s Stanley Cup Playoff clash, the Carolina Hurricanes were headed towards a decisive Game 7 in Raleigh.
The host New York Islanders outplayed the Canes for most of the night, striking early on Cal Clutterbuck’s first postseason goal and goalie Ilya Sorokin shutting down the Canes’ few quality chances. New York looked a lot like the same team in Game 5 – desperate, hungrier and ready to prove something.
Then, the storm from Carolina rolled in.
Sebastian Aho collected a rebound and backhanded a third-period shot past Sorokin to tie the game, Frederik Andersen shined in his first start since April 13 and veteran Paul Stastny scored in overtime for a 2-1 Canes victory.
With their win, Carolina (4-2) advances to the Eastern Conference Semifinals for a second-consecutive season.
How did the Canes come back, especially against a red-hot Sorokin?
Though they struggled to score, they put a ton of shots on net, winning the battle 41-34. Carolina enjoyed a couple solid chances early in the third, first on a failed clear by the Isles. Just over two minutes in, Canes winger Jesse Puljujärvi took a pass from teammate Brett Pesce and put a backhander on net, but Sorokin denied him. Moments later, Brent Burns fired a shot towards a scrum in front of the net. Same result – no goal.
Carolina finally caught their big break on a rush down the ice midway through the third period.
Aho skated from the Canes’ zone into the Isles’, then passed the puck back to Pesce for a shot. Pesce found the puck at his stick again after an Aho chance, sent it through a hoard of Isles defenders to Aho, who then rang the back of the net after batting down Pesce’s pass.
New York (2-4) found the first opportunity of overtime, but Carolina found the last laugh.
Six minutes into the extra-time period, Canes veteran Derek Stepan intercepted a failed Isles clearance just inside the blue line. He passed the puck towards Stastny, who sent a bad-angle shot towards the goal. Stastny’s shot deflected off Sorokin’s right skate and into the back of the net, sending Carolina players onto the ice to mob their Game 6 hero and leaving the Islander fans stunned.
The Canes’ defense played a huge role late, preventing New York from getting into an offensive groove after that early goal, largely thanks to Andersen. He saved 28 of 29 shots, even with Antti Raanta playing the first five games of the opening-round series in goal.
To have success in the Eastern Conference Semis, the Canes will need strong goaltending and solid defense. It’ll also help if they find an offensive groove, something they largely struggled to do against a solid Islanders defense.
Bring on the Devils
Carolina continues its quest for a second Stanley Cup tomorrow night, when it hosts the upstart New Jersey Devils at 7 p.m., in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
These two Metropolitan Division rivals are no stranger to postseason matchups, last facing off against each other in the 2008-2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs, when the Canes won in seven games. Carolina beat the Devils in five en route to their first Stanley Cup in 2006, won in six during the 2001-2002 campaign and lost in six during the 2000-2001 postseason.
But fans might better remember a more recent Canes-Devils matchup – April 4, 2019 – the day Carolina snapped their then-10-year postseason drought. The Canes won that game, 3-1, spurring a string of success that still continues to this day.
That New Jersey team struggled through its season, finishing second-to-last in the Eastern Conference.
This New Jersey team is far from that.
The Devils (52-22-8, 112 points) escaped from the opening round by downing the New York Rangers in seven games, including a pair of 4-0 shutout victories in the final three contests. New Jersey competed with the Canes late in the season for a division title, finishing just one point behind them.
The Devils and Carolina both play a fast brand of hockey – with a ton of young talent. New Jersey is led by a pair of young stars in captain Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes, the number one overall pick in the 2019 NHL draft. Hughes and Hischier have a combined 10 points between them in the playoffs so far – Hughes is second behind former Hurricane Erik Haula with three goals, while Hischier paces the offense with five assists.
New Jersey will likely roll with another young stud, Akira Schmid, in net. Schmid is 4-1 with an insane 1.38 goals against average and a .951 save percentage, meaning goals might be hard to come by for Carolina.
The Devils have a trio of former Canes on their roster – Haula, who spent part of the 2019-2020 season in Raleigh, Brendan Smith, who notched four goals and assists apiece last year and former fan favorite Dougie Hamilton – regarded as one of the best offensive defenseman in the league – who compiled 42 goals and 79 assists for the Canes from 2018-2021.
Carolina counters in young talent with its best player, Aho, who leads his team with four postseason goals and seven points. They also have 21-year-old Seth Jarvis, with two goals and assists each, plus speedy center Martin Necas (one goal, two assists).
The Canes’ veterans, however, played equally as important roles up to this point.
Burns dishes out a team-high five assists in round one, but he also played a key role in setting up the attack. Stastny, whom Carolina signed before the season to give themselves some needed veteran experience, is second on the team with three postseason goals. Stefan Noesen has two goals and two assists in his second postseason with the Canes. Raanta and Andersen, who shined in Game 6 after a two-week absence, are major reasons why Carolina is still playing.
With two young, title-thirsty teams, this upcoming series should be another exciting one to watch.
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