Although the clean sweep would have made a bigger statement, the Carolina Hurricanes (52-23-7) punched their ticket to the second round and a date with the New York Rangers (39-27-16) by blowing by New York’s other NHL team in game 5.

The 1st period began just like it did in Game 4 where the Hurricanes jumped out to a lead (3-1), and all hope looked lost for the Islanders.

But the 2nd period was all New York as they were able to tie the game at 3-3 with goals by Brock Nelson and Casey Cizikas by the end of the 2nd period. It looked to be another wire-to-wire game for this 3 vs 6 seed matchup.

The Hurricanes broke the tie with 4:36 on the clock in the 3rd period followed by a pair of goals and that was more than enough for the Hurricanes to advance.

“They play the right way, they play hard,” said Hurricanes center Jack Drury, who netted the go-ahead goal in the 3rd period. “But I think we stayed resilient.”

Going into the 3rd period the game seemed to be up for grabs but the Hurricanes scored 3 unanswered goals (2 within 8 seconds of each other), and Carolina ran away with the game and the series in 5.

CSD students, fans of the home state team, followed the series closely.

Hurricanes superfan Ryder Silberman (‘24) likes the fight the Hurricanes have but understands that they didn’t play a flawless game.

“I think that they need a stronger 2nd period because too many of the games came down to the 3rd period,” he said. “If they had played better earlier on it wouldn’t have been that way.”

All of the games in the series were competitive through the 2nd period. The Hurricanes have been playing their best hockey in the 3rd period which is an important trait to have for a team favored to be the Stanley Cup Champs according to DraftKings Sportsbook.

The Hurricanes next face the top-seeded New York Rangers in the 2nd round of the NHL Playoffs starting on the road. As they again head to New York, they bring momentum and big Stanley Cup aspirations.