Stastny scores in OT, Hurricanes eliminate Islanders with Game 6 victory

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Paul Stastny scored at 6:00 of overtime, and the Carolina Hurricanes eliminated the New York Islanders with a 2-1 win in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference First Round at UBS Arena on Friday.

Stastny won it for Carolina when he scored from a sharp angle near the goal line after a turnover by New York defenseman Adam Pelech.
"I just went in on the forecheck and he kind of flubbed it a little bit," Stastny said. "I knew Derek Stepan] would give it to me [and] I'd try to attack. I was thinking I would have a 2-on-1. Once [Jesse Puljujarvi] started coming towards me instead of staying wide, then I figured I'm just going to shoot without looking.
"I've done it in practice before. I've seen guys [like]
[Alex Steen
do it all the time. It's just the element of surprise. You get lucky sometimes."
RELATED: [Complete Hurricanes vs. Islanders series coverage]
Sebastian Aho scored, and Frederik Andersen made 33 saves in his debut this postseason for the Hurricanes, the No. 1 seed in the Metropolitan Division. They advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs to face the New Jersey Devils or New York Rangers. New Jersey has a 3-2 lead in that best-of-7 series heading into Game 6 in New York on Saturday.
Andersen did not play in the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season because of a torn MCL, and an illness and undisclosed injury prevented him from being available for Games 2-4 against the Islanders. Antti Raanta started the first five of the series.
"Obviously, it's been a while since I played in the playoffs (three years)," Andersen said. "That was something I was very excited about."

Cal Clutterbuck scored, and Ilya Sorokin made 39 saves for the Islanders, the first wild card in the East.
"It [stinks]," New York defenseman Scott Mayfield said. "It's not what we expected. Look at that series, and I think all but maybe one game could have gone either way. It's a couple percentages; 1-, 2-, 3-percent difference there, and they ended up on top. It's tough. Tough pill to swallow for sure."
Aho tied it 1-1 with a backhand during a scramble in front at 9:24 of the third period. It was his fourth goal of the series.
"Sometimes it takes a goal like that to win a hockey game," Aho said.

Clutterbuck gave New York a 1-0 lead at 9:21 of the first period. With Carolina caught on a line change, Clutterbuck skated into the right face-off circle and ripped a wrist shot past Andersen for his first point of the series.
Sorokin kept the Islanders in front at 1:02 of the second period when he managed to glove Brady Skjei's wrist shot from the point that changed direction on its way to the net.
Andersen responded at 5:03 with a glove save of his own against Brock Nelson's wrist shot from between the circles during a New York power play to keep it a one-goal game.
"We had our opportunities," said Islanders center Bo Horvat, who had one goal and one assist in the six games. "We had our chances. [We] could have easily been up two or three goals."
Jesperi Kotkaniemi nearly tied it for the Hurricanes at 7:48, but his shot hit the crossbar after he was left alone in front of the net.
New York outshot Carolina 18-10 in the second.
"I thought we had some really good chances to make it 2- and even 3-(0)," Islanders coach Lane Lambert said. "But we didn't. Their goaltender made some saves, and that's just the way it goes."
NOTES: Aho has eight goals and 12 points in potential elimination games, the most in Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers history. … Carolina has won a best-of-7 series three years in a row, the longest such streak in franchise story. … Hurricanes defenseman Brent Burns played his 100th NHL playoff game. … Ryan Pulock had an assist on Clutterbuck's goal and led Islanders defensemen with four points in the series.