2024-04-21 03:25:00
RALEIGH, North Carolina – Stefan Noesen grabbed a loose shot at the top of the crease and poked it past Semyon Varlamov early in the third period to help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New York Islanders 3-1 on Saturday to take their NHL playoff series opener.
Game 2 of the best-of-7 first-round series is Monday night.
Noesen’s pick-and-roll score at 3:44 of the period finally put Carolina ahead, then Martin Necas added an empty-net clincher from beyond the blue line with 1:32 to go. That capped off a grinding outing for the Hurricanes, who needed plenty of big stops from Frederik Andersen to hang on at home.
Andersen finished with 34 saves and was under a steady bit of pressure with the Islanders finishing with a nine-shot advantage. His stops included a wild one midway through the third when he fell backwards after the puck hit the post, and then deflected Noah Dobson’s finishing effort while essentially sitting in the crease.
Evgeny Kuznetsov also scored for Carolina, converting a power play just 95 seconds into his postseason debut with the franchise.
BROWNS 5, MAPLE LEAFS 1
BOSTON – Jeremy Swayman made 35 saves and got help from the post to block a point-blank shot from Auston Matthews on Saturday night as Boston beat Toronto in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.
Jake DeBrusk scored two power play goals, and Bruins rookie Jonny Beecher scored on his first postseason shot on goal. Brandon Carlo added a goal about a minute after Matthews, who led the NHL with 69 goals this season, caught Swayman away, but the puck bumped off the near post.
Trent Frederic added an empty netter to make it 5-1 with just over two minutes remaining.
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