NHL Playoffs: Paul Stastny sends Hurricanes past Islanders with OT winner

Stastny snuck one by Ilya Sorokin from a tight angle to close the series in six games.

Olivier Neven
·Writer
·2 min read
1
Paul Stastny scored exactly six minutes into overtime to send the Hurricanes to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. (Getty Images)
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The Canes are moving on!

The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the New York Islanders 2-1 in overtime — thanks to a goal from veteran forward Paul Stastny — to claim the first round series in six games and move on in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Stastny snuck a shot past Ilya Sorokin exactly six minutes into the extra frame on a goal that the Vezina finalist will surely have nightmares over for weeks to come.

The 37-year-old is no stranger to coming up clutch in the postseason, notching his third career playoff overtime winner.

With the win, the Hurricanes became the second team to advance past the first round of the 2023 playoffs, after the Vegas Golden Knights dispatched the Winnipeg Jets in five games on Thursday.

The Islanders looked poised to force a pivotal Game 7 when Cal Clutterbuck opened the scoring in the first period with a wicked short-side wrist-shot to beat Frederik Andersen, who started his first game of the series on Friday.

Sorokin and the Islanders absorbed wave after wave of attacks from Carolina before Sebastian Aho finally broke through to tie the game midway through the final frame.

Sorokin ended the contest with 39 saves on 41 shots, while Andersen earned the win with 33 saves of his own.

Carolina will now face the winner of the New Jersey Devils-New York Rangers series, which the Devils currently lead 3-2.