The Carolina Hurricanes got third-period goals from Jack Drury and Stefan Noesen to break a 3-3 tie and defeat the New York Islanders 6-3, eliminating them from the 2024 NHL Playoffs.
The two teams combined for three goals in the first four minutes of the game. Teuvo Teravainen and Andrei Svechnikov combined for two goals to open the contest for the Hurricanes, the fastest two goals to begin a playoff game in franchise history. It was 20 seconds faster than the previous mark (3:33 in Game 6 of the 2002 conference semi-finals).
The Hurricanes’ goals, just eight seconds apart, are the fastest two goals in franchise history, besting nine seconds in Game 2 in this series eight days ago. Carolina became the 22nd team in Stanley Cup Playoffs history to score twice in a span of eight seconds or less and the first since the Pittsburgh Penguins did so during Game 3 of the first round of the 2018 Playoffs (0:05).
Mike Reilly scored for the Islanders to make the score 2-1 until Evgeny Kuznetsov scored on a penalty shot to give the Hurricanes a two-goal lead. The penalty shot was awarded when the Islanders’ Alexander Romanov was whistled for covering the puck in the crease.
The Islanders roared back in the second period with goals from Brock Nelson and Casey Cizikas to tie the score.
Seth Jarvis added an empty net goal to complete the third-period scoring.
Fast to Miss the Rest of the Playoffs
Before the game, head coach Rod Brind’Amour revealed that forward Jesper Fast, who suffered an upper-body injury during the team’s regular-season finale against the Columbus Blue Jackets, is not likely to play in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Fast played a major role in last year’s postseason, scoring not one but two overtime winners.
Related: 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 1 Hub
In an unfortunate turn of events, it was initially believed that Fast was going to miss a matter of days. Now, after playing in 73 of the team’s 82 regular season games, the Hurricanes will be without one of their most trusted wingers.
The Hurricanes will face the New York Rangers in the second round of the NHL Playoffs. The Rangers recently completed a sweep of their first-round series against the Washington Capitals.