Facing elimination from the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs, the New York Islanders were looking for any break they could get in Tuesday night’s Game 5 against the Carolina Hurricanes. That likely didn’t include scoring immediately after a puck hit a player in the face.
The Islanders had taken a 1-0 lead into the second period, when left wing Pierre Engvall, who scored the first goal, launched a hard shot toward the Carolina net. But instead of finding the back of the net, the puck smacked Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho directly in the mouth before falling back toward the ice, and as luck would have it, the stick of Islanders center Brock Nelson. Before the puck landed, Nelson, who has two goals and three assists in the series, flicked the rebound past goalie Antti Raanta and into the back of the net to give the Islanders a 2-0 lead early in the second period.
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Aho, who has two goals and three assists in the playoffs, immediately left the ice once the goal was scored, but wasn’t gone long. The Finland native returned during a media timeout at 11:52 left in the second — sporting a fat lip.
The Hurricanes would get on the board with Paul Stastny’s second goal of the series at 13:10 of the second period, but the Islanders would extend their lead again when Mathew Barzal scored his second playoff goal with two minutes remaining in the period.
It had already been a notable series for players named Sebastian Aho. In Game 2, the Islanders’ identically-named Sebastian Aho scored an own goal to give Carolina a 2-0 lead in that game. The Hurricanes went on to win that game 4-3 in overtime.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hurricanes’ Sebastian Aho hit in face with puck before Islanders score
