Hurricanes eliminate Islanders from NHL playoffs on Paul Stastny OT winner in Game 6

The Carolina Hurricanes needed overtime Friday to beat the New York Islanders and end the teams’ first-round playoff series.

Paul Stastny, a veteran forward who came to the Hurricanes intent on winning a Stanley Cup, scored at six minutes of overtime at UBS Arena for the 2-1 win, putting an end to a hard-fought, physical series, Carolina winning four games to two.

The Hurricanes will play the winner of the series between the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers.

The Hurricanes had a new wrinkle for Game 6: Frederik Andersen in net. The goalie made his first playoff appearance for Carolina while the Islanders again had Ilya Sorokin in net for the sixth time.

Sebastian Aho tied the score 1-1 for the Canes midway through the third period. Fighting for inside position at the post, he knocked the puck down and backhanded a short shot past Sorokin for his fourth goal of the series.

Cal Clutterbuck’s goal at 9:20 of the first period had UBS Arena rumbling and the Islanders, after taking the 1-0 lead, had other chances in a dominant first period when the Canes did little right.

But it was still a 1-0 game heading into the third period as Andersen stopped 27 shots in the first 40 minutes. It was 1-1 going into overtime.

Takeaways from Game 6

▪ The Canes’ Sebastian Aho has taken a beating in this series as the Isles have targeted him. That includes a nasty puck in the face in Game 5 that left him bloodied, an unintended but unlucky play.

But Aho’s competitiveness won’t allow him to back up, much less back down. His third-period goal Friday tied the score. Aho carrying the puck into the zone, passing to Brett Pesce for a shot and then going to the net, knocking the puck down and scoring.

▪ Some may have wondered why Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour turned to Andersen in Game 6. The big man was ready after a busy practice Thursday. He badly wanted to play.

Andersen gave up the Clutterbuck goal in the first but steadied his way through the rest of the period and was solid in the second, making a big glove save on Brock Nelson to keep it a 1-0 game.

Andersen’s play in the first included a wild sequence when he bounced around on his back in the crease as the puck did the same. But the Isles did not score.

▪ Not sure where the Hurricanes’ focus was in the first period. Answer: not where it needed to be. A bad line change set up the Isles for the first goal. Clutterbuck was unchecked in the right circle, on the far side of the ice and beat Andersen with a rising shot.

Could Andersen have made the stop? Yes. But the poor line change gave the Islanders an opening and they took it.

▪ The Canes’ power play continues to be adventurous and at times dysfunctional. The Canes looked awful late in the first period on a power play that could have produced a tying goal and a strong end to the period.

Players were out of position, passes went awry, nothing was smooth. Yes, another one of those power plays.

▪ Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s line has been missing in action for the Canes most of the series but was active Friday. Kotkaniemi had a shot hit the crossbar in the second period, the center quickly looking up in disgust. Can’t seem to buy one.

Winger Jordan Martinook said Friday morning he would try to help the line produce some “mucky shifts.” Meaning? “Gritty, grinding, get it down low, try to get pucks to the net.” he said. Martinook was able to do that, with a game-high seven shots in regulation.

▪ Biggest collision of the game: Aho on Aho. The Canes’ Sebastian Aho hammered the Isles’ Sebastian Aho in open ice in the second period but was called for interference. The Canes’ Aho was not happy with the call.

Andersen gets the start

Brind’Amour kept his starting goalie a secret until the Carolina Hurricanes took the ice Friday.

The Canes coach, in a media session Friday morning, was asked about lineup changes for Game 6 of the playoff series against the Islanders. At first, he said there would be no changes.

Asked if that meant goalie Antti Raanta would be making his sixth straight start, Brind’Amour said, “Maybe. That’s the only one that I’m not going to disclose, just for the (heck) of it. So I’ll let you guys sweat it out.”

Ultimately, Andersen made his first playoff start for the Hurricanes.

Raanta was not used in six straight games at any point this season — his longest stretch was appearances in five consecutive games, once. Raanta said Thursday he was fine physically and not feeling any fatigue, but Brind’Amour turned to Andersen in Game 6.

Andersen has not been in a playoff game for the Hurricanes, missing all of the 2022 playoffs with a knee issue. He also was unavailable in Games 2-4 against the Islanders for an undisclosed injury, but returned and was Raanta’s backup in Game 5.

“I haven’t played in the playoffs for a while, so of course I’d be excited to play,” Andersen said Thursday. “But that’s up to the coaching staff, and I’m just happy to be a part of the team and not sitting up top like last year, watching. But yeah, I feel good to go.”

A coach’s trust in a veteran

In an effort to jump-start Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Martin Necas, Brind’Amour moved Martinook onto their line before Game 4, breaking up the consistently reliable Martinook-Jordan Staal-Jesper Fast trio.

“It’s an adjustment, but I know why I’m there,” Martinook said. “I’m trying to bring them into more of, I guess, grittier, but bring them into some mucky shifts here and there but still have them do what they do because obviously they’re special players and I want them to have the puck. My goal is to go in on the forecheck hard and try and get the puck back to them and try to get to the front of the net. I can do that better and try to open up some space for them.”

There’s a degree of trust in that move, asking a veteran player to stabilize a group that has struggled more than any other at even strength against the Islanders. In 57 minutes and change of five-on-five time, the Kotkaniemi-Necas duo has been outscored 4-0.

But Martinook long ago earned Brind’Amour’s trust, and what he can potentially do for Kotkaniemi and Necas outweighed the cost of taking him off what had become the Hurricanes’ most reliable defensive forward line. With Martinook instead of Stefan Noesen, Kotkaniemi and Necas’ possession numbers flipped from negative to positive in Games 4 and 5, albeit still without a five-on-five goal to show for it.

“He’s got good energy and he gets in there, good pace, and he’s a heavy body,” Brind’Amour said. “He’s tougher to play against. That’s kind of his M.O. and he’s done that wherever I’ve used him. … I’d like to see those guys be on the scoresheet. They’re playing in offensive roles, power plays, we need contributions.”

Still, with Max Pacioretty, Andrei Svechnikov, Teuvo Teravainen and Jack Drury all out, there’s only so many ways to put the pieces together.

“I think all our lines are a work in progress,” Brind’Amour said. “It’s just the nature of what we’re throwing out there. It’s kind of to be expected, to be honest. I hope I don’t have to shuffle around but there’s probably a good chance you’ll see a bunch of different combinations.”

Freddie’s redemption tour

Andersen made his first playoff appearance since the Toronto Maple Leafs lost Game 5 of the preliminary round in the 2020 bubble to the Columbus Blue Jackets, and his first in front of fans since a Game 7 loss at the Boston Bruins in 2019.

Overall, he now has a 28-23 career record in the playoffs, but his 10-14 record with Toronto made him a controversial figure there. It’s hard, though, to blame Andersen for the Leafs’ 2020 exit: He had a 1.84 goals-against average, .936 save percentage and the Leafs scored only 10 goals in the five games.

Statistical trend

One trend in the series has been that the team scoring first has won all five games. Sometimes, scoring first doesn’t matter. In this series, it has.

“Whoever gets that first goal, I think that’s important,” Canes defenseman Brett Pesce said Friday. “It gets you momentum. I guess on the road it takes the crowd out of it. So you can say the first goal is a big one.”

Even bigger, Brind’Amour said, is getting the first one and then the second. The Canes did that in their 5-2 win in Game 4. The Islanders did that in winning Game 5.

“If you look at the statistics, anybody who scores first, just in general, that’s a huge advantage,” he said. “Now if you get the next one, you’re in real good shape. But it doesn’t mean it’s the end of it. You’ve got to just keep playing.”

Tailwinds

Ratings from ESPN’s broadcast of Game 5 were up 13 percent — 933,000 total viewers — from the comparable game in 2022, Game 5 of the Hurricanes-Bruins series. ... The Hurricanes are 9-1 all-time when leading a series 3-2 but have lost three straight potential series-clinching games (Games 6 and 7 against the New York Rangers in 2022 and Game 5 against the Islanders on Tuesday). Their all-time record in close-out games is 15-14. ... Brent Burns’ next playoff game will be the 100th of his career. ... Sebastian Aho (seven goals and four assists in nine games) is the Hurricanes’ career leader in goals and points in close-out games.