The Carolina Hurricanes face the New York Islanders in Game Six of the Second Round with the Hurricanes holding a 3-2 series lead. The Hurricanes have controlled this series but stumbled at home in Game Five and hope to close out this series on the road. The Islanders looked poised for elimination but pulled off the upset in Game Five and look to even up this series with a win on their home ice. The Hurricanes hope to secure the series victory while the Islanders hope to force a winner-take-all game and the upcoming game should be a great one.
The Hurricanes have controlled this series but their offense has struggled, scoring only 14 goals in the series with only two goals in Game Five. Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis, and Stefan Noesen have scored seven goals and seven assists to lead the top two lines but the rest of the offense has struggled. The hope is that defenseman Brent Burns steps up as he has added five assists in this series from the blue line but failed to record a point in Game Five.
The offense has struggled but the defense has carried the Hurricanes in this series, allowing only 14 goals with only five goals in the last two games. Brent Burns and Jaccob Slavin have led the top pairing while Brett Pesce, Brady Skjei, and Shayne Gostisbehere have also stepped up, creating turnovers in all three zones and limiting shots on the net. Additionally, goaltender Antti Raanta has stepped up, saving 126 of the 139 shots he's faced in this series.