Islanders hold off Hurricanes in Game 5 to stave off elimination

Brock Nelson scored by knocking in an airborne puck that had bounced off the face of Carolina's Sebastian Aho, and the visiting New York Islanders added two goals that came off turnovers, beating the Hurricanes 3-2 on Tuesday night and extending their first-round playoff series.

Nelson's goal stood out. He swung at the puck after it had struck Aho near the mouth and was falling to the ice, batting it past Antti Raanta near the post early in the second period for a wild score.

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Pierre Engvall scored midway through the first period after getting a one-on-one shot at Raanta off Carolina's failed clear, while Mathew Barzal took a turnover by Martin Necas the other way to beat Raanta late in the second for the 3-1 lead.

Ilya Sorokin weathered a strong first period from Carolina to finish with 34 saves as New York sent the series back to UBS Arena for Friday's Game 6.

The Hurricanes certainly would've preferred to close this one out Tuesday on home ice considering how they're grinding forward with an injury-depleted group of forwards — including top names like Andrei Svechnikov (season-ending knee injury) and Teuvo Teravainen (broken hand suffered in Game 2).

Aho's score off a behind-the-net feed from Seth Jarvis cut the deficit to 3-2 midway through the third period. But the Hurricanes came up short on a night that included the Islanders successfully challenging a first-period put-away on Stefan Noesen's one-timer for coming on an uncalled offsides as Carolina pushed into the zone with the man advantage.

Raanta finished with 19 saves, while Aho and defenceman Brent Burns both pinged the post on a frustrating night for the Hurricanes. And