RALEIGH, N.C. — Frederik Andersen came up big between the pipes and Stefan Noesen put Carolina ahead early in the third period, as the Hurricanes beat the New York Islanders 3-1 in the opening game of the Eastern Conference first-round series.
Andersen stopped 34 shots, including a big time save while basically laying on his side while down in the crease in the third period. The Hurricane netminder managed to stand up to the constant pressure from the Islanders.
"You don't want to be a team relying on your goalie, but Freddie's always been there for us and has made the big save when we need it," defenseman Brady Skjei said, adding: “Obviously we've got to do a little better job of helping him out.”
Noesen scored what would be the game-winner at the 3:44 mark of the third, grabbing a loose puck atop the crease and slid it past Semyon Varlamov.
Martin Necas skidded a shot from beyond the blue line into an empty-net for a game-clinching goal with 1:32 to go.
Rookie Kyle MacLean scored after pushing a loose puck by Andersen during a scramble in front of the net to tie the score. Varlamov turned aside 23 shots on the day, but the Islanders couldn't cash in on the few chances Andersen did give them.
Andersen's highlight play of the game came after he slipped on teammate Brett Pesce's skate and fell in the crease just as Noah Dobson's shot plunked the right post. The puck slid back to Dobson and he skated in on a prone Andersen. But the netminder managed to bat down Dobson's second attempt while laying on the ice for the stop.
Islanders coach Patrick Roy cited that sequence as a critical moment in the game.
“Encouraged because I thought we played a really solid game,” Roy said. “We did a lot of good things out there, it was a hard-fought game but we had our chances. And frustrated because we had our chances."
Evgeny Kuznetsov also had a goal for Carolina, scoring a power play goal just 95 seconds into his postseason debut with the franchise.
Game 2 of the best-of-7 first-round series will be at 7:30 P.M. EST on Monday night.
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