RALEIGH — It often takes something extraordinary to beat Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin, and that was certainly the case in Wednesday’s Game 2 at PNC Arena.
The Hurricanes scored on a redirection, an own goal by New York, tied the game in the third period on a shot banked in off the back of Sorokin’s mask and won it with a pinpoint shot from Jesper Fast in overtime.
The winning goal came after a controversial non-call as Carolina forward Jordan Martinook’s stick clipped Scott Mayfield in the face, stunning the Islanders defenseman.
New York was still able to clear the puck out of the zone, but the Hurricanes reloaded. Brent Burns collected the puck in the neutral zone and zipped it cross-ice to Jordan Staal. The Carolina captain settled the puck, entered the zone and sent it through a seam in the Islanders’ defense. Fast collected it at the right faceoff dot and quickly shot, picking the far side corner on Sorokin (33 saves) at 5:03 of overtime to give Carolina a 4-3 win and a 2-0 series lead in front of a sellout crowd in Game 2 of the first round series.
“I was thinking far side,” Fast said of his goal, the ninth of his career in the playoffs and third since joining Carolina three seasons ago. “I didn’t see exactly where it went in.”
Sorokin knows exactly how Fast feels.
After the Islanders scored three consecutive goals after falling into a 2-0 hole, including Brock Nelson’s go-ahead goal at 9:18 of the third period that gave New York its first lead of the series, Carolina got a fortunate bounce on the Islanders goalie for the second time in the game.
Carolina defenseman Jaccob Slavin, from below the goal line, snapped a shot high and off the back of Sorokin’s mask, banking it in to tie the game with 7:41 left in regulation.
“Honestly, I was looking for the pass the whole time,” Slavin said. “And then last second I saw his head and put it in the vicinity and ended up getting a lucky bounce.”
It wasn’t even the luckiest bounce Carolina got all night.
That came with Carolina ahead 1-0 on a Paul Stastny tip-in and on the power play after Islanders defenseman Samuel Bolduc was called for a four-minute high-sticking penalty.
The Hurricanes’ power play sputtered, but with it winding down, Stefan Noesen tried to flip the puck in deep just inside the Islanders’ blue line. New York defenseman Sebastian Aho swatted at it, knocking it right toward his own net. The puck bounced and Sorokin was slow to react as it went past his right pad at the 7:19 mark of the second period.
“Definitely an awkward one, and we’ll take it,” Slavin said.
The Hurricanes’ two-goal lead was short-lived.
First, Kyle Palmieri circled the Hurricanes’ net and slid a backhand under Antti Raanta (24 saves) just past the midway point of regulation to make it 2-1.
The Islanders tied the game with 20.3 seconds left in the second period after a Carolina turnover.
Defenseman Brady Skjei caught a flipped puck near center ice, but his pass was intercepted by defenseman Ryan Pulock, who carried the puck up ice and handed it off to Mathew Barzal right before crossing the blue line. Barzal snapped a quick wrist shot from between the hashmarks that cleanly beat Raanta to knot the game at 2-2.
“The end of the second was the killer,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said of the Barzal goal. “We weren’t playing great, but we were in good shape and then kind of gave them one. So that obviously got their momentum going and they feel good about what was happening.”
Slavin’s bank shot then tied the game, and just over two minutes later Carolina got its sixth power play of the night. The Hurricanes’ not only failed to score, but Teuvo Teravainen was injured when New York center J-G Pageau slashed his left hand with about 4½ minutes left in regulation.
Brind’Amour said Teravainen suffered a broken hand and will have surgery Thursday, knocking him out for at least the remainder of the series.
“He’s out,” Brind’Amour said. “He got slashed, 4:25 marker, broke his hand. With the puck, takes a shot, the guy absolutely tomahawk chops him. Absolutely. And I know we had all the power plays, so you’re not going to make it a 5-on-3. Go take a look at the video. And he’s out for the series. … He has to have surgery tomorrow. So there you go. So I’m a little pissed, to be honest with you.”
It wasn’t the only play that left the Hurricanes bruised and battered. Two Carolina players suffered cuts from high sticks, Jack Drury was hit by an errant puck that flew into the bench area, and Staal slinked to the locker room at the end of the first period after Islanders enforcer Matt Martin hit him from behind, cross-checked him while Staal was prone on the ice and then sat on the Carolina captain.
“There’s a couple of weird things in that game I didn’t like, obviously,” Brind’Amour said. “The guys, they get it. I mean, it’s playoffs. But some things shouldn’t be happening, that’s for sure.”
Notes: Pyotr Kochetkov backed up Raanta after Frederik Andersen was ruled out due to illness. … Burns had two assists for the second straight game. … The Islanders out-hit the Hurricanes 54-28. … Noesen was credited with a goal on the New York own goal despite not registering a shot on net in the game.
