Canes go up 3-0 over Isles

In Raleigh, Justin Williams scored the first of three Carolina Hurricanes goals in the third period on Wednesday night.

Williams’ goal was the game-winner as the Canes defeated the New York Islanders in Game 3, 5-2.

“We’re up 3-0. They say the last one’s the hardest, and it always is when the other team’s backs are against the wall,” Williams said. “We certainly don’t want to go back [to New York for Game 5], but if we have to we will. But we’re going to work our tails off to hopefully get it done in four.”

The game-winner resulted from Sebastian Aho picking off a clearing attempt by Robin Lehner below the goal line.

“I made a read, I saw him on the forehand, so I kind of cheated on the boards,” Aho said. “I just tried to knock it out of the air, and I got a piece of it.”

Curtis McElhinney made 28 saves to get the win.

“I thought we did a great job,” McElhinney said. “I think it was even a little tighter than the last game we played (a 2-1 win). It was a great effort and a huge third period for us again.”

Devon Toews and Josh Bailey were the goal scorers for the Isles.

“We’ve just got to come out and win one,” Bailey said. “I know it’s a cliche, but obviously we have to give ourselves a chance back at home. Just try and win this next one and see what happens.”

Teuvo Teravainen and Justin Faulk scored for the Hurricanes.

“I thought we were good all game. It looked more like our team,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We had some mistakes, and [McElhinney] came up big again when he had to. It was great to see him get in there and get [this] win.”

Teravainen and Aho added empty-net goals late in the third.

[WATCH: Islanders vs. Hurricanes Game 3 highlights | Complete series coverage]

Lehner made  saves in the loss.

“We’re always confident we can get the next one,” Lehner said. “Unfortunately, the last couple of games, we haven’t gotten it. But coming in 2-2 into the third period, I thought I was playing well. I had a bunch of saves. It comes down to that play. I [messed] up.”

Lehner cannot take all the blame as the Islanders have failed to score throughout the series.