In Raleigh, after taking a 3-1 lead n the opening stanza, the Hurricanes surrendered two goals to the New York Islanders in the middle frame to head to the third period, tied, 3-3.

In the third, Carolina hit for three unanswered goals in a 6-3 win and 4-2 series win over the Islanders.

Carolina advances to face to the New York Rangers in the second round.

“The start of the game was great. That at least got us a nice lead,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “They had their push, and you’ve got to give [the Islanders] a lot of credit. They just kept coming. We had to play really well to win this series.

“It’s hard to win a playoff round. Sometimes you forget that. I’m proud of the group because that’s a good accomplishment, but that’s not what we’re shooting for.”

The third period outburst by the Canes was started by Jack Drury at 4:36, giving Carolina a 4-3 lead. He scored off a shot from the left circle.

Off the face off at center ice, a dump in by the Canes caromed off a stanchion toward a vacated crease where the Isles Semyon Varlamov had gone to play the dump in.

Stefan Noesen  needed only to tap the puck home for a 5-3 lead.

The two goals were scored eight seconds apart.

Seth Jarvis iced the game with an empty-net marker at 18:21, for the 6-3 final count on the scoreboard.

“I mean, that’s just a tough way to lose a game,” the Islanders’ Anders Lee said. “We were grinding back, stayed in the fight all night. We believed what we were doing, believed we were going to win this hockey game, and two bounces like that that. … It’s tough to swallow, but that’s how it goes sometimes.”

Frederik Andersen made 22 saves in the win.

In the first period, the Hurricanes had seemingly taken control of the game early.

Carolina took a 1-0 lead on its first shot of the game at 1:23 of the first period.

Teuvo Teravainen scored at 1:23 of the first period to give the Canes a 1-0 lead, scoring off low in the left circle.

Carolina pushed the advantage to 2-0 on a power play strike by Andrei Svechnikov at 3:13.

Just 41 seconds later, the Islanders’ Mike Reilly hit off a power play to trim the deficit to 2-1. .

“I am very proud of this group because they were resilient,” New York coach Patrick Roy said. “I mean, even tonight they show that. That’s how they were all year. I mean, it would have been easy to pack it in, and it’s not what we did.

“I feel like we deserve better. I thought we played some good hockey in that series. Losing in five, I feel like we deserve a little bit better, and I’m not saying we should have won that series, (but) I’m saying that we could go home right now and play game No. 6 easily, and instead it’s over.”

Evgeny Kuznetsov responded for Carolina with a penalty shot at 13:22.

In the middle frame, the Islanders rallied with a pair of goals to get the game tied, 2-2.

Brock Nelson trimmed the gap to 3-2 at 3:47, scoring off a shot that deflected off the Canes’ Jalen Chatfield.

“We knew we kind of let them crawl back into it in the second,” Jarvis said. “You don’t want to do that, especially with a team like that that can score and just the momentum it gives them. With so many good veterans, they kept us calm. We never really got flustered. They made sure we knew what was at stake. We just came out in the third and executed.”

With 22 seconds left on the period clock, Casey Cizikas knotted the match, 2-2, with a shot into an empty cage after Andersen appeared to lose an edge.

Varlamov made 32 saves in the loss.

“I’m proud of every single player in here,” Islanders forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau said. “Everybody thought we weren’t going to make the playoffs. We proved everyone wrong. Everyone said that they were going to sweep us. I thought we gave it a good shot. Didn’t really get the bounces. We’ll be back.”

In Elmont, the Islanders stayed alive in the Stanley Cup Playoffs first round series with the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday afternoon.  Mathew Barzal tipped in a shot form the blue line that found the back of the cage to give the Isles a 3-2 win in double overtime, forcing a Game 5 back in Raleigh on Tuesday.

“Great forecheck by Bo [Horvat]. That’s kind of just how it’s been,” Barzal said. “When we can get the puck stopped down there and get the forecheck going and slow the play down a little bit down there, we have some success. It was a great shot by Bortuzzo, trying to find the lane and throw it in an area where there’s some bodies. It’s a lucky bounce.”

The goal came at 1:24 of the second extra session.

“You have no idea how proud I am of this group,” New York coach Patrick Roy said. “They came out and played hard. Even when [the Hurricanes] took the lead, we stayed calm, and we stayed focused. Our mindset was really good and I think the guys were determined to find a way to fight to win this hockey game.”

It was Barzal’s second goal of the game.

The Hurricanes had forced the extra time when Stephan Noesen scored on a tip in at the front of the cage at 14:08 of the third period, tying the game, 2-2.

Semyon Varlamov made 42 saves in the win.

The Canes took a 109 lead on a power play strike by Seth Jarvis at 8:00 of the opening stanza, scoring after the puck had bounced around the crease before finding its way to the left circle for a shot.

“It’s tough to win four games in a row on someone, especially when the games are so even like they are,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “It could have went either way in all three, just like tonight could have easily gone the other way. We expected it to be a long series and we’ve got to focus on the next one.”

Barzal potted his first of the match midway through the second period to tie the game, 2-2, scoring off a shot from atop the right circle and glancing in off the far post.

“I just tried to use my speed on the outside, turned up and I really didn’t see anything,” Barzal said. “Their defensemen played really well. I didn’t have much space. It was a great screen by [Casey] Cizikas. He slid in front of Andersen’s eyes there, and I just tried to put the puck on net. You never know.”

Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored 98 seconds into the third period to stake the Isles to a 2-1 lead. He scored off the power play on a one-timer form the left circle.

The Islanders remain in must win territory, trailing in the series, 3-1. Frederik Andersen made 32 saves in the loss.

In Elmont, the New York Islanders needed a big game from across the bench on Thursday night.  Instead, they got an average game and lost Game to the Carolina Hurricanes by a 3-2 count. The loss leaves the Islanders with no room for error, in a season replete with miscues.

Frederik Andersen made 29 saves in the Canes win.

“He was unbelievable,” Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov said. “With five minutes left, he made that save. I just don’t know where he got the arm [from]. It was unbelievable. I don’t know what to say. It was just so important. He’s been the best player for us out there, and we believe in him.”

Carolina grabbed a 1-0 lead at 4:46 of the opening stanza on a strike by Brent Burns. He scored on a shot off the boards through traffic.

Midway through the first, the Canes’ Dmitry Orlov pushed the advantage  to 2-0, with a scoring off a shot fro from the left circle.

“I jump in on the rush,” Orlov said. “Svechnikov makes a nice play, and I try to find the lane to shoot and their own defenseman for them screen the goalie, and it just hit the net.”

In the middle frame, the Islanders closed the gap to 2-1 on a marker from Pierre Engvall at 2:48. He scored five-hole from the above the crease.

“It definitely wasn’t as good as last game. We were down 3-0 at one point (in Game 2), and then tonight we’re up 3-0, I don’t know what it was, 2-0 or whatever,” Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook said. “But, it just looked different. Obviously, they’re desperate. They’re fighting as hard as they can and for us to be able to just hang in there and hold the (2-0) lead there is big for us to be able to get the win and go up 3-0.”

Game 4 is set for Saturday on the Island.

Carolina extended the lead to 3-1 at 7:14 of the third on a goal by Sebastian Aho, scoring off a rush up ice.

“The first two periods were OK and then we knew what was coming,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “They’re going to give it everything they had. And that’s exactly what happened. But ‘Freddie’ came up with a couple of huge saves and that’s the difference in the game.”

Nelson pulled New York within 3-2 at 17:39 when he put in a rebound at the side of the net.

Ilya Sorokin got the start for the Islanders, and was given the hook after yielding three goals on just 14 shots. He left the ice at 7:14 of the middle frame.

“We win and we lose as a team, so I’m not going to go there,” Roy said about pulling Sorokin. “But what I’m going to say is sometimes we make changes as a coach because we feel we just wanted to change the momentum of the game.”

Semyon Varlamov made eight saves in a mop up role.

In Raleigh, the New York Islanders had their Game 2 match with the Hurricanes in hand on Monday night.

They held a 3-0 lead in the middle frame.

“It’s a tough loss, no doubt about it, because we had a chance to win that game,” New York coach Patrick Roy said. “But at the same time, we’ve got to regroup and be ready for the next game. We’re going home and we need to play well at our building and win game No. 3, that’s all.”

Then they promptly blew it, all of it in a 5-3 loss to trail their best-of-seven series with Carolina by an 0-2 count heading home for Game 3 on Thursday in Elmont.

Five different skaters hit for the Hurricanes in the rally.

The Hurricanes’ Teuvo Teravainen scored at 13:01 of the second period to close the gap to 3-+1 headed to the third period.

He scored off a rebound on the power play.

The third period was a disaster for the Islanders.

Seth Jarvis scored at 10:43 of the third, scoring off a wrister from the left circle to trim the deficit to 3-2.

You could hear the air leaving the Islanders’ bench.

Sebastian Aho scored at 17:45, off a tip in to tie the game, 3-3. Aho’s goal came with Frederik Andersen  on the bench for an extra skater.

“It was a special night, for sure,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “It’s one of those games we’ll look back on for a long time. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime type game.”

Just nine seconds later, Jordan Martinook put the Canes up, 4-3, off the power play.

“In the third, it was just wave after wave,” Martinook said. “We were coming at them and we didn’t give them anything, which was key.

“The momentum of us tying the game and the energy it sends, I don’t really know how to describe it. Obviously, you push that hard, hopefully you’re going to get a couple. Luckily we did. Those are fun games to be a part of, and I’m not going to sleep too good tonight I don’t think.”

Jake Guentzel  hit an empty net with 56 seconds left on the game clock for the 5-3 final count on the scoreboard.

Andersen made nine saves in the win.

Kyle Palmieri got the Islanders’ offense going at 16:22 of the opening stanza for a 1-0 lead.

Bo Horvat pushed the advantage to 2-0 with 15 seconds left on the clock in the first.

In the second period, Anders Lee hit off a power play for a 3-0 lead to New York at 3:54.

“As a group, you support one another defensively, and there’s times we got hemmed in,” New York’s Brock Nelson said. “I thought guys laid it on the line a couple times when were were stuck because of broken sticks, which obviously hurts. You’d like to be playing more in the offensive zone, for sure.”

From there, it was all Carolina.

The Canes outshot the Islanders, 29-5, over the final two periods of the match.

“It gives you hope, it gives you a chance,” Brind’Amour said. “We went into the [third] period down two, so it wasn’t a total disaster of a period. Guys felt good about how they were playing.”

Semyon Varlamov made 34 saves in the loss.

The Islanders have to come a  long way back form this loss. They have been outscored 6-0 in the third period of the first two games of the seri4s.