They say a series doesn’t start until the home team loses a game – but if this series “starts” in Game 3, it’ll be almost over.
Jesper Fast’s overtime goal gave the Carolina Hurricanes a 4-3 victory and a 2-0 series lead over the New York Islanders.
The Isles fought back from a 2-0 deficit and scored three unanswered goals to take a lead just over nine minutes into the third period, but Carolina tied it back up just three minutes later.
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Five minutes into the overtime period, Jordan Staal’s cross ice pass found the stick of Fast, who wristed past Ilya Sorokin, sending the Raleigh crowd into a frenzy.
The series is just two games old, and already the Islanders have had two tough losses – Game 1 was a nail-biter from start to finish which resulted in a 2-1 victory for the Canes.
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This isn’t the first time Fast has been an enemy to the Islander faithful – the winger spent his first seven seasons with the Isles’ arch-rival New York Rangers.
Paul Stastny, Stefan Noesen, and Jaccob Slavin were the other goal-scorers for the boys in red, while defenseman Brett Burns dished out two assists. Kyle Palmieri, Mat Barzal, and Brock Nelson all scored for New York.
The series now moves to Long Island for the next two games – it will be the first playoff games played at UBS Arena, which opened its doors in 2021.