Hurricanes rally to beat Islanders 2-1, take 2-0 series lead

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Carolina Hurricanes right wing Nino Niederreiter, bottom, of Switzerland, falls back while celebrating his third-period goal with teammate center Jordan Staal, center, during the third period of Game 2 of an NHL hockey second-round playoff series against the New York Islanders, Sunday, April 28, 2019, in New York. Islanders goaltender Robin Lehner (40), of Sweden, center Brock Nelson (29) and defenseman Adam Pelech (3) look on during the celebration. The Hurricanes won 2-1.

Carolina Hurricanes right wing Nino Niederreiter, bottom, of Switzerland, falls back while celebrating his third-period goal with teammate center Jordan Staal, center, during the third period of Game 2 of an NHL hockey second-round playoff series against the New York Islanders, Sunday, April 28, 2019, in New York. Islanders goaltender Robin Lehner (40), of Sweden, center Brock Nelson (29) and defenseman Adam Pelech (3) look on during the celebration. The Hurricanes won 2-1. AP Photo

Warren Foegele and Nino Niederreiter scored 48 seconds apart early in the third period to rally the Carolina Hurricanes to a 2-1 victory over the New York Islanders on Sunday and a 2-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Petr Mrazek stopped nine of 10 shots he faced before leaving with an injury 6 1/2 minutes into the second period. Curtis McElhinney came on and finished with 17 saves to help Carolina win for the sixth time in its last seven playoff games.

Mathew Barzal scored and Robin Lehner made with 16 saves for the Islanders. New York, which had home-ice advantage in a seven-game series for the 15th time, has opened with two losses for the first time.

Game 3 is Wednesday night in Raleigh, North Carolina.

AVALANCHE 4, SHARKS 3

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Tyson Barrie scored the tiebreaking goal and assisted on two others and Colorado beat San Jose to even the Western Conference semifinal series at a game apiece.

The Avalanche were in danger of falling into a 2-0 series hole when coach Jared Bednar reunited his top line by moving Mikko Rantanen up to play with Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog with his team trailing 1-0 in the second period. The move led to a goal by Landeskog on their first shift together and another by Barrie later in the period to help Colorado bounce back from a 5-2 loss in the series opener.

Former Shark Matt Nieto scored in the third period, MacKinnon added an empty-netter and Philipp Grubauer made 31 saves. Brent Burns scored twice and Evander Kane also scored for the Sharks.

Game 3 is Tuesday night in Denver.