Carolina Hurricanes Sebastian Aho scored the opening goal of the NHL playoffs this season as Carolina took a 2–1 home victory over the New York Islanders. Aho scored a handsome power play goal directly in the fourth minute of the opening set by Brent Burns insightful cross-feed.
Carolina’s second goal scorer had waved the net in the second set Stefan Noesen. A dynamic duo came ahead of Aho and Noesen in the points Burns and Martin Necaswho recorded assists on both goals.
Carolina’s heroes included the Finnish goalkeeper Antti Raanta, who made 25/26 saves in the match. Raanta was chosen as the best player of the match. The Finnish keeper only managed to surprise the hitter in the second set Ryan Pulock.
– He was incredible. It was wonderful to see. At this point in the year, that is needed. The goalkeeper must be the best player. That’s what he was, Burns beamed at Raanta after the match.
Raanta praised the entire team.
– There were a couple of shots that I didn’t see, but our players blocked them. Most of the time the guys in front of me played really well. I just had to block the first shot and the guys cleaned up the goal line very well, praised Raanta.
In the match, the Hurricanes withstood, among other things, four Islanders’ superiority without setbacks.
– Our number one ice killer was our goalkeeper. Antti made a couple of really good saves, the Carolina pilot Rod Brind’Amour praised.
The Hurricanes are now playing in the playoffs for the fifth year in a row. In the three previous years, the team has won its division. The Islanders played in the NHL semi-finals in 2020 and 2021, but last year the team missed the playoffs.
– We have to be a little more precise, because there is not much space on the ice, Islanders pack Noah Dobson your sum.
Last season, Carolina’s streak ended in the second round of the playoffs against the NY Rangers.
Hintz hit, Heiskanen initiated
In the playoff round, not only Finnish Aho, but also the Dallas Stars got a taste of the goal Roope Hintzwho opened his team’s scoring account in a home game against the Minnesota Wild.
Hintz leveled the game at 1–1 at the beginning of the second period right after the opening victory with an upper hand.
Also a star quarterback for Dallas Miro Heiskanen got to the power points. He started less than two minutes after Hintz’s goal by Jason Robertson 2–1 superiority goal.
The game between Dallas and Minnesota is still pending. After the first overtime, the score is 2–2.
In the first round of the playoffs, the Florida Panthers, colored by Finnish players, faced a tough test when they faced Boston, who had just set the NHL regular season point record (135). The host team Boston won 3–1.
The skipper of the Finns who were on the ice Alexander Barkov (-1) recorded almost 20 game minutes and Anton Lundell (+/- 0) and Eetu Luostarinen (+/- 0) a good 16 minutes each. However, the points were missed.
Having played an excellent regular season last season, Florida’s entry into this spring’s playoffs was constantly under threat, and the Panthers reached the playoffs as the last team in the eastern division after being the eighth in the division.
Florida’s playoff run ended in the second round last season against the previous season’s Stanley Cup champion, Tampa Bay.
The Kings emerged victorious
Joonas Korpisalo saved the Los Angeles Kings in a sweet 4–3 overtime win over the Edmonton Oilers. Korpisalo stretched in front of the puck with the away team’s goal 38/41 times.
The Oilers led the match 2–0 after the opening set and 3–1 in the middle of the third set, but Los Angeles rose to the occasion with chalk lines.
Kings made the 3–3 equalizer in 59:43 Anze Kopitar by force. The decision of the match was seen in the middle of the overtime, when Alex Iafallo punished underpowered Edmonton.
Results of the 1st playoff round (4 wins):
Carolina–NY Islanders 2–1 CAR: Aho, Raanta 25/26 defense.
Wins 1-0
Boston to Florida 3 to 1
Wins 1-0
Dallas–Minnesota hey in progress DAL: Hintz 1+0, Heiskanen 0+1
Wins 0-0
Edmonton–Los Angeles hey 3–4 LAK: Korpisalo 38/41 torj.
Wins 0–1