How the Hurricanes finished off the Islanders and the series: 5 takeaways

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Two goals in eight seconds sent the Islanders out of the playoffs.

Jack Drury broke a 3-3 tie with 15:24 to go and a bad bounce on a dump-in off the ensuing faceoff led to Stefan Noesen's goal into an empty net with 15:16 to go, sending Carolina on to face the Rangers after a 6-3 win on Tuesday and a 4-1 series victory over the Islanders.

Brock Nelson and Casey Cizikas scored second-period goals to pull the Islanders even heading to the third after an overwhelming start to the game from Carolina. Teuvo Teravainen scored on the game's first shot, beating Semyon Varlamov cleanly just 1:23 in to get the PNC Arena crowd roaring. Andrei Svechnikov scored on a pass that tipped off Robert Bortuzzo's stick and in on a Canes power play at 3:13, putting the Islanders in a quick hole.

Mike Reilly scored just 41 seconds later on an Isles power play but the Canes were in their top form in the first, pumping 21 shots on Varlamov and taking a 3-1 lead to the first intermission after Evgeny Kuznetsov converted a penalty shot awarded when Alexander Romanov covered the puck with his hand in the Isles crease.

THE BOYS ARE BUZZING pic.twitter.com/jPtoDPDzix

— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) May 1, 2024

Eight seconds, game over

The Islanders fought hard to get back even after two periods and were playing things even early in the third, but much the same way Game 2 disappeared from them with two Carolina goals in nine seconds to turn a lead into a loss, Game 5 and the series slipped away in a matter of eight seconds.

Drury's go-ahead goal was a typical Carolina goal — a breakdown off a shot. Brady Skjei's shot was blocked, J-G Pageau whiffed on the bouncing puck and it settled right on Drury's stick to beat Varlamov.

Off the ensuing draw, Skjei's dump-in curled off the boards right towards the net with Varlamov already anticipating a touch behind the cage. Noesen was the only player in sight to tuck the puck into an empty net.

And that was all. Carolina has long thrived on the breakdowns that come after shots, even shot blocks, and the Canes took advantage. Then they got a good break and took advantage again.

Evgeny Kuznetsov's slo-mo penalty shot

Kuznetsov hasn't had much of an impact in the series outside of opening the scoring in Game 1, but he was the perfect choice to take the first-period penalty shot.

Kuznetsov was known in his decade with the Caps for his slow-speed approach to the shootout, when he converted a gaudy 44.6 percent (29 of 65) of his shootout attempts.

He didn't disappoint on this penalty shot, taking over 10 seconds to get in on Varlamov. The veteran goalie got impatient and went for a poke check; Kuznetsov pulled the puck back and snapped it home for a two-goal Carolina lead.

KUZNETSOV HIT EM WITH THE 'CONTROLLER DISCONNECTED' MOVE ON THE PENALTY SHOT 🥵 pic.twitter.com/tr9HxVvr7w

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 1, 2024

Islanders show some fight

The first-period onslaught could have ended the game and the series quite easily, but the Islanders steadied themselves and were the more aggressive team in the second period. Nelson's goal off a rare odd-man rush rewarded the early push and the Islanders seemed like the more poised team despite facing elimination — there were even a couple smiles on the bench midway through the second when Pageau accidentally fired a puck into a sea of teammates, catching Cizikas but not injuring him.

And it was Cizikas who sent it to the third tied, taking advantage of Andersen kicking his own skates out from under him to score into an empty net in the final seconds of the second.

There was some actual fight too when the Islanders were down a goal, with Anders Lee and Andersen nearly colliding on a pass across the slot and the big goalie taking a very slight swing at Lee after the whistle.

The Islanders were minus-24 in second-period goal differential during the regular season, 29th in the league. After their Game 5 recovery, they were plus-4 in the series in the second.

Too much, too soon

It was the worst possible start to a win-or-go-home game for the Islanders. Varlamov gave up a goal on the first shot of the night, a similar one to the first goal of the series he allowed to Kuznetsov. A Hudson Fasching penalty led to another Canes goal, this one on the power play, just 1:50 later and it seemed as though the Islanders would get blown out of the building.

Even with Reilly's power-play goal 41 seconds later, the Islanders were under siege through the first, with the Canes putting 21 shots on Varlamov. Carolina had 31 first-period attempts, so the Islanders weren't even blocking their usual high number of shots — there were a lot of open looks and a lot of scrambling in the defensive zone.

Tough finish for Semyon Varlamov

There wasn't any kind of decision for Patrick Roy to make in goal this series. Varlamov had been the main man in the Islanders' net down the stretch of the season and Ilya Sorokin's lone start this playoff ended after three goals, two of them low-danger, in 27:14 in Game 3. Varlamov was superb in Game 4, but he gave up a bad one to open Game 5 as he did in Game 1 and then got caught out of his net on the fifth goal Tuesday, as happened on the winner in Game 2.

Neither of those goals were necessarily Varlamov's fault. Noah Dobson got shoved off an easy touch by Jordan Martinook for the Game 2 winner and the puck took a funky bounce off the wall on a dump-in on Tuesday, sitting right down for Noesen to clinch the series.

The Islanders were supposed to have the edge in goal this series. For all the possession and lopsided shots by the Canes, the Islanders were undone by too many quirky goals that shouldn't go in.

(Top photo: Karl B DeBlaker / AP Photo)