Hurricanes finish off Islanders after ‘lucky’ bounce, plenty of hard work in the trenches

Brady Skjei wasn’t sure what the puck hit. But he knew what kind of bounce it took, where it landed, and the end result.

That would be a goal by Stefan Noesen of the Carolina Hurricanes, who found the puck sitting in front of the crease and no one there but him. That would be a second goal in a span of eight seconds, leaving the Canes with a 5-3 lead over the New York Islanders in the third period and PNC Arena rumbling.

“A pretty lucky bounce,” Skjei said, smiling. “We’ll take it.”

The ever-so-quick explosion came in the first five minutes of the third. The Canes finished off a 6-3 win, ending the best-of-play playoff series in the fifth game. Carolina now moves on to play the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference second round.

“We came back in the third period, had a great finish and did a great job in pulling it out,” Skjei said.

Skjei used the word “resilient” after the game in describing how the Canes won the series.

Good choice. The first round — and a game, veteran Islanders team — was more than enough of a challenge for the Canes, for Skjei and Carolina’s defensive corps.

In short, it was a 4-1 series win for Carolina, but it came with a price.

Skjei’s defensive partner, Brett Pesce, was injured on a non-contact play in Game 2 and his return still is uncertain. Tony DeAngelo stepped into Pesce’s place in the second defensive pairing alongside Skjei and handled himself well.

DeAngelo came to Skjei’s defense in the second period Tuesday when Skjei was knocked into the Canes net by the Isles’ Anders Lee, and into goalie Frederik Andersen. DeAngelo was quickly in Lee’s face.

“Tony did a great job,” Skjei said. “Obviously ‘Pesc’ is a huge loss for us but I thought Tony was great. And we’ll need him to keep doing that in the near future.”

If he’s ready to play. DeAngelo was slashed late in Tuesday’s game by the Isles’ Pierre Engvall and left the ice in pain.

After the game, DeAngelo was led out of the locker room by a team doctor with an ice bag on his arm. Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said DeAngelo was being X-rayed but had no further update, leaving his status in doubt.

“That’s always a concern. This time of year, you have to stay healthy,” Brind’Amour said.

That was the downside of a game that had the Canes jump out to a 3-1 lead in the first period, scoring twice in the first 3:13 of the game, only to have the Islanders climb back into it and tie the score 3-3 with 21 seconds left in second period.

Canes center Jack Drury scored his first career playoff goal — the game-winner — for a 4-3 lead in the third, and he, too, got a nice bounce. A Skjei shot hit the leg of the Isles’ Alexander Romanov and bounced to Drury in the left circle for a snipe.

After the center-ice faceoff, Skjei grabbed the puck and zipped it down the left boards into the Islanders zone. Goalie Semyon Varlamov went behind the net, waiting to stop it. Except …

“I think it hit a stanchion in the glass,” Skjei said. “I wasn’t even looking. It was crazy.”

Noesen was driving the net, collected the loose puck and scored the easiest playoff goal he’ll likely ever have.

Noesen’s only thought: “Don’t mess this up.” He didn’t say “mess,” but you get the idea.

The eight-second span was almost two seconds faster than it took the Canes’ Evgeny Kuznetsov to slow-mo his way to the net and score on a penalty shot in the first period. It also was a second faster than the two-goal detonation late in Game 2 that decided that victory and had the decibel count high.

The Canes weren’t always at their best Tuesday. Andersen was the winner but fought the puck at times. The Islanders at times seemed quicker to the puck and more relentless in that pursuit.

“They fought back,” Kuznetsov said. “It was a 3-3, tight game and it could have gone either way. I’m glad we continued working and got those two goals. They played well but we believed in ourselves and we got the goals at the end of the game.”

After ousting the Islanders in the playoffs for a second straight year, the Canes now face what will be a stiffer test in the second round. The Rangers won the Metropolitan Division and the NHL’s Presidents’ Trophy this season, were called the “best team in the league” by Brind’Amour and will play the first two games of the second round at home.

“We know what they’re all about,” Brind’Amour said.

Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Jacob Trouba, Adam Fox, those guys ... yes, the Canes know what they’re about. And the Rangers’ power play. They know about that.

Then there’s Peter Laviolette, the Rangers’ coach, the man who was behind the bench and had Brind’Amour as his captain when the Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup in 2006.

“We played good in spurts and had one good game from start to finish,” Brind’Amour said of the Islanders series. “As you go along, and you talk about the Rangers, we’re going to have to play better if we expect to win.”

And keep working for the bounces, lucky or otherwise.