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The Upshot: The NY Islanders send series back to Long Island with 3-2 win

New York Islanders v Carolina Hurricanes - Game Five
New York Islanders v Carolina Hurricanes - Game Five / Jaylynn Nash/GettyImages
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HOW IT HAPPENED

Pierre Engvall scored his first postseason goal and added an assist as the New York Islanders staved off elimination and defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 in Game 5 at PNC Arena in Raleigh. Engvall's goal at 10:27 was the first time the Islanders scored the opening goal of the game in 10 playoff games. Brock Nelson made it 2-0 when an Engvall shot went off the face of Carolina's Sebastian Aho and was batted into the net by Nelson. Mathew Barzal scored the game-winner 18:05 into the second, and Ilya Sorokin made 34 saves in the win. Paul Stasny and Aho had the Carolina goals, while Antti Raanta had 19 saves.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

The Islanders scored first for the first time in 10 playoff games and took a lead into the second period for the first time in 25 playoff games, falling just shy of the Montreal Maroons record, which was set across multiple seasons from 1928 -1935.

Pierre Engvall was the one to finally break through; forcing a turnover on the forecheck and then got in behind the defense, taking a pass from Brock Nelson, and sliding the puck 5-hole against Raanta.

WHAT WENT WRONG

Special teams remain a problem. The Islanders failed to generate any shots on their first power play and, as often has been the case, allowed the better of the chances. Their second chance was negated by an interference penalty on Noah Dobson in the neutral zone, though it led to a 4-on-4 where Barzal scored to make it a 3-1 lead after two periods.

STATS OF THE GAME

Per NHL PR, Brock Nelson (1-1β€”2) scored his 25th career playoff goal (25-21β€”46 in 72 GP). He required the fourth-fewest games by any player in franchise history to reach the mark behind Mike Bossy (41 GP), Butch Goring (68 GP), and Bryan Trottier (70 GP). Denis Potvin (75 GP) is the only other skater to do so in 75 contests or fewer.

SOCIAL MEDIA MOMENT OF THE GAME

We've seen two Sebastian Aho's on the ice at the same time this series, but in Game 5 we saw them both in the penalty box at the same time.

WHAT'S NEXT

The series continues as the Islanders and Carolina Hurricanes head back to Long Island for Game 6 at UBS Arena. Face off is TBD.

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