- A surprising star came off the bench to help the Carolina Hurricanes steal another win on the road.
- Tyson Barrie was the difference for the Colorado Avalanche.
- The Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen duo do something for the Avalanche that have not been done since Peter Forsberg and Joe Sakic.
Carolina Hurricanes 2, New York Islanders 1 (CAR leads series 2-0)
The Carolina Hurricanes entered Sunday’s game without three of their regular forwards (Andrei Svechnikov, Micheal Ferland, and Jordan Martinook), lost a defender on the first shift and had to play the entire game with only five players on their blue line, then lost starting goalie Petr Mrazek halfway through the second period. On top of that they entered the third period, on the road, trailing on the scoreboard. All they did after that was score two goals in 48 seconds and held on for a 2-1 win to take the first two games of the series to head back home with a 2-0 lead in the series. Pretty impressive stuff.
Colorado Avalanche 4, San Jose Sharks 3 (Series tied 1-1)
When you are the underdog starting a best-of-seven series on the road your goal for the first two games is to win one of them to steal home-ice advantage. The Colorado Avalanche accomplished that on Sunday evening with a 4-3 win that was highlighted by a dominant performance by Tyson Barrie and a controversial goal in the second period. Barrie’s goal late in the period gave the Avalanche their first lead and came on a play that appeared as if it should have been whistled for icing. It was not, and the Avalanche capitalized with a goal that turned out to be significant. The Sharks had a controversial call go their way in Round 1 against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 7 of the series, and this time they were on the other side of it. That is how it goes sometimes in sports. Nathan MacKinnon’s empty-net goal in the third period proved to be the game-winner after Brent Burns scored two late third period goals to close the deficit to one goal.
[NBC 2019 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB]
Three Stars
1. Curtis McElhinney, Carolina Hurricanes. Before Sunday the 35-year-old McElhinney had played just 81 minutes of postseason hockey in his NHL career, and none this season. He still ended up being the star of the game for the Hurricanes as he came off the bench, with his team already trailing, to replace Mrazek and stopped all 17 shots he faced to help lift the Hurricanes to a 2-1 win over the Islanders. It was McElhinney’s first ever postseason win and it is one he definitely earned given the difficult circumstances he was thrown into.
2. Tyson Barrie, Colorado Avalanche. He was incredible for the Avalanche on Sunday night by not only scoring a goal and adding two assists, but also by helping to dictate the pace of the game when he was on the ice. He was their best player in Game 2 and the biggest reason they were able to even the series. He has been one of the most productive blue-liners in the NHL for six years now and was at his absolute best on Sunday night.
3. Warren Foegele, Carolina Hurricanes. One of the most surprising developments in these playoffs has been the offensive emergence of Foegele. There were 10 players on the Hurricanes’ roster that scored more goals than him during the regular season. Through nine playoff playoffs there are zero Hurricanes with more goals than him. His game-tying goal early in the third period on Sunday was already his fifth of the playoffs. He only scored 10 during the regular season.
Highlights Of The Night
All of the offense for the Hurricanes on Sunday came in less than 60 seconds. Here it is.
This sequence in the third period of the Avalanche-Sharks game is a goaltending clinic.
Save for save.
— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) April 29, 2019
This is playoff hockey! pic.twitter.com/qxKDHZbWf6
Devon Toews thought he had a goal to give the New York Islanders a 2-0 late in the second period on Sunday, only to have the goal disallowed because of a kicking motion. It did not count, but it is still a play worth watching just because of how important it turned out to be.
Cool play, but the rule on this (Rule 49.2) is very clear: “A goal cannot be scored by an attacking player who kicks a puck that deflects into the net off any player, goalkeeper, or official.”
Still a play worth pointing out just because it does not happen very often.
Factoids
- McElhinney made some NHL history on Sunday by becoming just the fifth goalie in league history to record his first postseason win at age 35 or older. [NHL PR]
- During Joe Thornton’s rookie season his current linemates were five and two years old, respectively. [NHL on NBC]
- Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen both have six-game point streaks for the Colorado Avalanche. This is the first Avalanche teammates have had simultaneous playoff points streak of six games or more since Peter Forsberg and Joe Sakic did it during the 2004 postseason. [NHL PR]
Monday’s Schedule
Game 3: St. Louis Blues at Dallas Stars, 8 p.m. ET, NBCSN, (Series tied 1-1) (Live Stream)
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.