Palmieri, Islanders defeat Hurricanes in Game 3 of East 1st Round

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Kyle Palmieri broke a tie on a power play with 3:51 remaining in the third period, and the New York Islanders pulled away with a 5-1 win against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference First Round at UBS Arena on Friday.

Palmieri put New York in front 2-1 when he redirected Sebastian Aho's shot just before a penalty to Brady Skjei was set to expire.
Carolina has a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series. Game 4 is here Sunday.
"Big goal," Palmieri said. "It was a tight game, and it feels good to come out on top."

Matt Martin made it 3-1 just 44 seconds later at 16:53 before Scott Mayfield and Anders Lee scored 16 seconds apart for the 5-1 final.
The goals from Palmieri, Martin, Mayfield, and Lee came in a span of 2:18, the fastest four goals in Stanley Cup Playoff history. The Montreal Canadiens scored four in 2:35 in Game 5 of the 1944 Stanley Cup Semifinals.
Casey Cizikas also scored, and Ilya Sorokin made 30 saves for the Islanders, the first wild card from the East who played their first Stanley Cup Playoff game at UBS Arena.
"It was pretty awesome," Martin said of the atmosphere. "I didn't think that [it] would be what the (Nassau) Coliseum was, but it's [darn] close. Obviously, our fans bring so much energy for us and really help us tilt the ice, especially in the third period when we really needed a push."

Jesper Fast scored for the Hurricanes, the No. 1 seed in the Metropolitan Division. Antti Raanta made 32 saves.
"Did you think they were going to roll over and die?" Carolina forward Jordan Martinook said. "We know they're not going to]. They're here for a reason. Obviously we want to try to win every game and we're trying to get the next one, so learn some things from tonight and come back Sunday."
***[RELATED: [Complete Hurricanes vs Islander series coverage]*
Sorokin made 15 saves in the first period, including against Martin Necas from point-blank range at 3:59.
"We had a good first period," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "We really liked how we came out [and tried] to get something out of that period."
But Cizikas gave New York a 1-0 lead at 12:49 of the second period, one-timing Ryan Pulock's backhand feed from the right face-off circle.
"I can't really take too much credit," Cizikas said. "That pass from [Pulock] was unbelievable. I didn't even think he saw me, but he made a beautiful pass and I was able just to get it over his shoulder."

Hudson Fasching nearly made it 2-0 from the top of the crease at 13:48, but Carolina forward Seth Jarvis dove to swipe the puck away from the goal line after it trickled behind Raanta.
Fast then tied it 1-1 with a short-handed goal at 16:56, finishing a 2-on-1 with Jordan Staal after a turnover by Mathew Barzal in the offensive zone.
After the goals from Palmieri and Martin, Mayfield scored into an empty net at 18:11 to give the Islanders a 4-1 lead, and Lee made it 5-1 just 16 seconds later with Raanta back in goal at 18:27.
"I think we played good enough in the first period, [and the] second period we battled," Raanta said. "They were giving a lot of pressure and we played well. Third period, we just didn't have that extra push to get the win."

New York outshot Carolina 17-7 in the third.
"We were able to put a couple in and get a lead tonight at the end there with that tip from Palmieri] to really put ourselves in a great position," said Lee, the Islanders captain.
**NOTES:**New York defenseman Alexander Romanov played for the first time since sustaining an upper-body injury April 1. He was plus-3 and had four hits in 15:25 of ice time. … The Islanders were 16-4-2 at home in the regular season when scoring first. … Hurricanes forward
[Jessi Puljujarvi
was minus-2 and had one shot on goal in 9:15; he replaced forward Teuvo Teravainen, who sustained a broken hand in Game 2 on Wednesday. … Carolina defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere was minus-3 in 15:34. … The Hurricanes went 0-for-4 on the power play; the Islanders were 1-for-5.