Hurricanes top Islanders in overtime, 4-3, on Jesper Fast winner, take 2-0 series lead

Jesper Fast ripped a shot past Ilya Sorokin from the right circle at 5:03 of overtime to lift the Carolina Hurricanes to a 4-3 win over the New York Islanders in Game 2 of the teams’ best-of-seven first-round NHL playoff series at PNC Arena on Wednesday.

The Hurricanes lead the series, 2-0, with Game 3 set for Long Island on Friday.

Here are takeaways from the game:

▪ Players often talk about “getting the bounces” or “puck luck” and the Canes had a little of both on Noesen’s second-period power-play goal as Sebastian Aho “scored.”

Just as the Canes were about to squander four minutes of power-play time, Noesen attempted to push the puck down the right wall from the point. The Islanders’ Aho took a swipe it at it, knocking the puck back toward the net, where it took a crazy hop past Sorokin.

Make it another power-play goal for Noesen, who had the game-winner in Game 1, and another power-play score for the Canes. But Noesen’s ‘what-can-I-say” look after the play as he approached the bench summed up things well. It was fluky.

▪ The Canes like to keep sustained pressure on opposing defenseman and force turnovers that lead to quick transition, but the Islanders tied the score doing that in the second.

Canes defenseman Brady Skjei, pressured along the wall in the neutral zone, pushed the puck to middle. Adam Pelech picked it off and quickly got it to Mat Barzal, whose rising shot from the slot beat Raanta high to the glove side for a 2-2 tie with 20.3 seconds left in the period.

▪ Physical play is one thing. It’s the playoffs. But cheap shots cause bad blood.

That happened in the final seconds of the first period. Isles forward Matt Martin hit Jordan Staal in the back in the New York zone, knocking down the Canes captain, then fell on him and held him down on the ice with his knee.

Moments later, the horn sounded to end the period with the Isles net a logjam of players pushing and grappling – mayhem. Staal, meanwhile, was in pain and being helped to the locker room.

Martin was called for interference. The Canes did not score on the power play to begin the third, and Martin was loudly booed as he exited the penalty box. Staal did return.

▪ Frederik Andersen’s illness was a pregame surprise to many. The goalie was at the Canes’ morning skate and among teammates in the locker room after the skate.

Raanta was set to be the starter and Andersen was to be the backup, but Pyotr Kochetkov was in the lineup Wednesday.

Andersen missed all of the playoff games last season because of a knee injury. His availability moving forward is a big question mark for Carolina.

▪ The Islanders appeared to take a physical toll on the Canes in Game 2. Casey Cizikas clipped the Canes’ Aho with a stick in the first period, cutting Aho’s mouth. Staal took the Martin hit. Defenseman Brett Pesce was cut under his left eye after taking a stick high from Samuel Bolduc in the second.

The Islanders, who had 44 hits in Game 1, had 36 through two periods Wednesday. The physicality appeared to negate the Canes’ edge in quickness and allowed the Islanders more zone time late in the second.

▪ Should the Canes have challenged the Isles’ first goal? Palmieri scored while Pierre Engvall was making contact with Raanta’s right skate in the crease.

Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour took a long took at the replay and considered a challenge but held off. It was a 2-1 game.

Staal injured, returns

Carolina captain Jordan Staal left the ice under his own power as the first period ended in Wednesday’s Game 2 between the Hurricanes and New York Islanders, but he was in a world of pain.

Staal swung and whiffed at a puck during a late-period flurry in front of Islanders Ilya Sorokin, and then got plowed into from behind by the Isles’ Matt Martin. Staal was stunned and fell forward into the ice. Martin then sat on top of the Canes’ center for 15 seconds as play continued around them. That hit, and subsequent shenanigans, resulted in a pig pile in front of Sorokin’s cage.

Martin received the lone penalty on the play, for interference.

Staal returned to the Canes’ bench for the start of the second period, and at the 2:40 mark of the second, he hopped onto the ice for his first shift of the frame.

Raanta starts, Kochetkov the backup

Having won Game 1 of the playoffs against the New York Islanders, the Carolina Hurricanes didn’t make any changes for Game 2 on Wednesday.

Antti Raanta was again the starting goalie, Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said after Wednesday’s morning skate. Frederik Andersen was expected to back up Raanta but had an illness and was made a scratch for Game 2 as Pyotr Kochetkov served as the backup.

The forward lines will remain the same. So, too, the defensive pairings.

Forward Jesse Puljujarvi and defensemen Calvin de Haan and Dylan Coghlan will again be the extra skaters.

The Canes won 2-1 in Game 1 on Monday and are expecting another close game against the Islanders, who allowed two power-play goals while going 0-4 on their power plays.

“They had some good looks that didn’t go in, so it easily could have gone the other way,” Brind’Amour said Wednesday. “Sometimes, a bounce here or there is all it is.”

The Isles’ Ryan Pulock had the only 5-on-5 goal in the game. New York was credited with more high-danger scoring chances (12-10), according to the Natural Stat Trick hockey analytics site.

Raanta made 25 saves, the last on Bo Horvat just as the game ended, in being named the game’s first star. He now is 7-0 in home playoff games the past two years, with a 1.16 goals-against average.

Andersen was not available for last year’s playoffs after suffering a knee injury as Kochetkov served as the backup. The Canes recalled Kochetkov from the Chicago Wolves of the AHL on Monday.

Drury: “Could have been a lot worse”

Jack Drury didn’t have to wait long Monday night for an introduction to NHL playoff hockey. Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock smoked Drury just inside the Hurricanes’ defensive zone on his very first shift.

“He took it like a champ,” Seth Jarvis said Tuesday, and Drury said Wednesday morning he saw it coming.

“I had to get the puck out and he gave me a hard hit,” Drury said. “He kept it clean. It could have been a lot worse.”

That was the first of 83 hits in Game 1. Will there be even more in Game 2?

“It’s what you’d expect,” Brind’Amour said Wednesday. “Usually in the first round you see it the most. Then the second round it’s a little less and the third round it’s a little less and by the time you get to … if you can get there … it’s even less because of the wear and tear on everybody.

“But the first round, and you see it in all the other series, too, everyone’s on full go with a lot of energy.”

Severi Järvi, the Canes’ honorary sixth Finn

Jarvis noted Tuesday that it wasn’t a problem for him that there were multiple Sebastian Ahos on the ice in this series, both of whom share the nickname “Seabass,” because the Hurricanes’ Sebastian Aho is also known as “Fishy” and because Jarvis likes to consider himself multilingual.

“No, Fishy, he knows my voice, I like to think,” Jarvis said. “I work on my Finnish, too, The other Aho is Swedish so he doesn’t understand like we do.”

This comment provoked a question from a fan in Finland, to ask if Jarvis knew that some fans over there have adopted him as an honorary Finn, Severi Järvi — “That would be pretty close,” the Hurricanes’ Aho said — which would give the Hurricanes a total of six.

Jarvis was unaware, although honored, and it turns out it’s not the first time he’s been taken for Finnish. It happened as recently as Tuesday night, during an off-night dinner at Brent Burns’ house.

“His wife thought I was from Finland,” Jarvis said. “I guess she didn’t know I was from Winnipeg. It’s the greatest compliment I’ve ever gotten.”

Given how closely Jarvis has been associated with Aho, Teuvo Teravainen and the Hurricanes’ other Finns on the ice, it’s not a shocking assumption to make.

As for Jarvis’ command of the notoriously difficult Finnish language, the Hurricanes’ Aho said it’s not as far fetched as it sounds.

“His accent is pretty good,” Aho said. “He can roll his Rs pretty good.”