The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the New York Islanders 3-2 on Thursday (April 25) to take a 3-0 lead in their 2024 Stanley Cup Playoff series.
They now have a 3-0 lead in a best-of-seven series for the third time in franchise history, following the 2019 second round (against the Islanders) and the 2006 conference semifinals (against the New Jersey Devils). Carolina swept New York and beat the Devils 4-1 in that series.
The Hurricanes took a two-goal lead in the first half behind goals from Brent Burns and Dmitry Orlov. It was Burns' 23rd playoff goal, which tied Kris Letang for the most among active defensemen.
The Islanders got a second-half goal from Pierre Engvall before Sebastian Aho scored for the Hurricanes to get their two-goal lead back. Brock Nelson scored to bring the Islanders within one goal, but that was as close as the Islanders would get.
It was Aho's fifth game-winning goal of the playoffs, and he passed Jordan Staal and Kevin Dineen for second in franchise history, behind Rod Brind'Amour (6).
The Hurricanes were without defenseman Brett Pesce (lower body), who was injured in the second half of Monday's contest, and is “likely” to miss the rest of the series, according to Brind'Amour.
Related: 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 1 Hub
Frederik Andersen had 29 saves on the night and became the second goaltender in Hurricanes/Whalers history to win his team's first three postseason games after Mike Liut (4 games in 1986).
Game 4 of the series will take place on Saturday afternoon (April 27).
Source link
