The Carolina Hurricanes will play the New York Islanders in the Eastern Conference First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Hurricanes (52-22-7), who will finish second in the Metropolitan Division, will have home-ice advantage in the best-of-7 series. The Islanders (38-27-16) will finish third.
The playoffs begin Saturday.
Carolina and New York played four times in the regular season, with each team winning twice on the road. The Hurricanes won 4-3 in overtime on Nov. 4, and 4-1 on March 19. The Islanders won 5-4 in overtime on Nov. 30, and 5-4 on Dec. 23.
Three of those games occurred before Patrick Roy was hired by the Islanders to replace Lane Lambert on Jan. 20. New York, which was sixth in the Metropolitan at the time of the hiring, is 19-12-5 under Roy, including 7-0-1 in its past eight games.
This season, the Hurricanes have been led by forwards Sebastian Aho (89 points; 36 goals, 53 assists), Seth Jarvis (67 points; 33 goals, 34 assists), Martin Necas (53 points; 24 goals, 29 assists), Andrei Svechnikov (52 points; 19 goals, 33 assists), and Teuvo Teravainen (51 points; 23 goals, 28 assists). Brady Skjei leads their defensemen with 47 points (13 goals, 34 assists), and Brent Burns is second with 41 points (10 goals, 31 assists).
Pyotr Kochetkov is 23-13-4 with a 2.33 goals-against average, .911 save percentage and four shutouts in 42 games (40 starts). Frederik Andersen, who missed 50 games this season because of a blood clotting issue, is 13-2-0 with a 1.84 GAA, .932 save percentage and three shutouts in 16 games. Since returning on March 7, he is 9-1-0 with a 1.30 GAA, .951 save percentage and three shutouts.
Against New York, Carolina was led by Necas, who had five points (one goal, four assists) in the four games. Aho (three goals, one assist), Svechnikov (four assists) and Skjei (four assists) each had four points.
Kochetkov went 1-1-1 with a 3.69 goals-against average and .853 save percentage in three games. Antti Raanta, who is currently in the American Hockey League, made 22 saves in the 4-3 overtime win on Nov. 4.
The Islanders have been led this season by Mathew Barzal (80 points; 23 goals, 57 assists), Noah Dobson (70 points; 10 goals, 60 assists), Bo Horvat (68 points; 33 goals, 35 assists), Brock Nelson (67 points; 33 goals, 34 assists) and Kyle Palmieri (53 points; 29 goals, 24 assists).
Ilya Sorokin is 24-19-12 with a 2.99 GAA, .909 save percentage and two shutouts in 55 games (54 starts). Semyon Varlamov, who has started seven of the past 10 games, is 14-8-4 with a 2.60 GAA, .918 save percentage and three shutouts in 28 games (27 starts).
Against Carolina, New York was led by Barzal, who had eight points (two goals, six assists) in the four games. Horvat had six points (two goals, four assists), and Dobson had five (one goal, four assists).
Sorokin went 1-1-1 with a 3.66 GAA and .908 save percentage in three games. Varlamov made 29 saves in the 5-4 overtime win on Nov. 30.
The Hurricanes and Islanders have played twice in the playoffs. Carolina won in six games in the first round last season and swept New York in the second round in 2019.
The Hurricanes have won the Stanley Cup once, defeating the Edmonton Oilers in seven games in 2006. The Islanders haven't won the Cup since winning four straight from 1980-83.
