Hurricanes push Islanders to brink with Game 3 win

ELMONT, N.Y.  -- The Carolina Hurricanes pushed the New York Islanders to the brink of elimination with a 3-2 win in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference First Round at UBS Arena on Thursday.

“It definitely wasn't as good as last game. We were down 3-0 at one point (in Game 2), and then tonight we're up 3-0, I don't know what it was, 2-0 or whatever,” Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook said. “But, it just looked different. Obviously, they're desperate. They're fighting as hard as they can and for us to be able to just hang in there and hold the (2-0) lead there is big for us to be able to get the win and go up 3-0.”

Andrei Svechnikov had two assists, and Frederik Andersen made 29 saves for the Hurricanes, the No. 2 seed from the Metropolitan Division.

“The first two periods were OK and then we knew what was coming,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “They're going to give it everything they had. And that’s exactly what happened. But ‘Freddie’ came up with a couple of huge saves and that's the difference in the game.”

Pierre Engvall and Brock Nelson scored for the Islanders, the No. 3 seed from the Metropolitan. Ilya Sorokin was pulled at 7:14 of the second period after allowing three goals on 14 shots, and Semyon Varlamov made eight saves in relief after starting the first two games of the series.

“We were resilient, that’s for sure,” New York coach Patrick Roy said. “I thought we had a really good start. Andersen made a really solid save on [Noah] Dobson (at 9:34 of the first period). It could have been a 1-1 game right there. I thought it was a hard-fought game. There were not many chances on both sides. It was a playoff game. We had a good push in the third. We had our chances, and the puck wasn’t bouncing our way.”

Game 4 of the best-of-7 series is here Saturday (2 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, MSGSN, TBS, BSSO, SN, TVAS).

“It’s really frustrating,” Dobson said. “It’s disappointing right now, for sure. It definitely stings.”

Brent Burns gave Carolina a 1-0 lead at 4:46 of the first. After Martin Necas missed the net from the left circle, the puck went around the boards to Burns at the right point, and his one-timer beat Sorokin to the blocker side through a screen.

Less than a minute after Andersen stopped Dobson’s one-timer from close range, Dmitry Orlov made it 2-0 at 10:25. After New York forward Kyle Palmieri turned the puck over in the neutral zone, Svechnikov skated up the right boards into the Islanders zone and fed a trailing Orlov, who carried the puck into the left circle and scored with a wrist shot to the short side.

“I jump in on the rush,” Orlov said. “Svechnikov makes a nice play, and I try to find the lane to shoot and their own defenseman for them screen the goalie, and it just hit the net.”

Engvall cut it to 2-1 at 2:48 of the second, scoring through Andersen’s five-hole after Anders Lee found him open at the top of the crease.

Sebastian Aho pushed the lead to 3-1 at 7:14, scoring over the blocker off the rush and chasing Sorokin.

“We win and we lose as a team, so I’m not going to go there,” Roy said about pulling Sorokin. “But what I'm going to say is sometimes we make changes as a coach because we feel we just wanted to change the momentum of the game.”

Nelson pulled New York within 3-2 at 17:39 when he put in a rebound at the side of the net.

Andersen kept the Islanders from tying it with 5:45 left in the third period. He was down on his right side but got his glove up to make the save on Alexander Romanov’s shot from the left circle.

“He was unbelievable,” Svechnikov said. “With five minutes left, he made that save. I just don't know where he got the arm [from]. It was unbelievable. I don't know what to say. It was just so important. He's been the best player for us out there, and we believe in him.”

NOTES: Aho scored his fifth game-winning playoff goal, passing Kevin Dineen and Jordan Staal for second in franchise history, behind Brind’Amour (six). … Andersen started a third straight games for the first time since returning March 7 after missing 50 games because of a blood clotting issue. He became the second goalie in franchise history to earn a win in each of his team’s first three games to start a postseason (Mike Liut, Hartford Whalers, 1986). ... Sorokin was pulled in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time (12 starts).