RALEIGH, N.C. _ The Carolina Hurricanes are on the brink of another playoff series win.
The New York Islanders are on the brink of being swept, their season over.
In a game that was as much a test of will as skill, the Hurricanes turned back the Islanders, 5-2, to take a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven second-round series.
Teuvo Teravainen scored twice, Justin Williams gave the Canes the go-ahead goal in the third period and goalie Curtis McElhinney did the job in net. Justin Faulk had a second-period score _ out of the penalty box _ and Sebastian Aho had a goal and assisted on the Williams goal.
Games 4 is scheduled Friday at PNC Arena as the Canes look to finish off the Eastern Conference series.
Williams' goal at 10:15 of the third period gave the Canes 3-2 lead. It came after Isles goalie Robin Lehner tried to clear the puck from behind the net, only to have Aho bat down the puck and find an open Williams crashing the net.
Before Wednesday's game, Williams said, "We grinded out two wins, which is great. I'm a realist and we haven't played very well. Tonight we need to show the Islanders what we're all about. This is a big game, a statement game."
It was 1-1 after the first period and 2-2 after the second in a punch-counterpunch kind of game as the two teams fought for the puck, fought for their space. Teravainen and Faulk scored for the Canes, and Devon Toews and Josh Bailey for the Islanders.
Had the Canes' power play been better, they could have had the lead heading into the third. But the power play has been a big problem for Carolina in the playoffs and that continued Wednesday while the Toews goal came on an Islanders power play.
A lot of good had happened for the Canes since their last game in PNC Arena. There was Game 7 in the first-round series with the Washington Capitals and the double-overtime win. There were two wins to start the Islanders series, both at the Barclays Center in New York.
Back home, the Canes had rookie forward Andrei Svechnikov and Jordan Martinook back in the lineup Wednesday. Svechnikov had not played since his big fight with the Caps' Alex Ovechkin in Game 3 of that series, and Martinook could not go in the first two games of the Islanders series.
Curtis McElhinney was the starter in net for the Canes, becoming the oldest goalie _ at 35 years, 343 days _ to start a playoff game. McElhinney was one of the heroes in Game 2 against the Isles, taking over after Petr Mrazek left with an injury and stopping all 17 shots in the Canes' 2-1 win.
It was a tight game throughout, keeping the PNC Arena crowd of 19,066 jumping out of the seats. Twice in the first two periods, the Canes took the lead, the noise level on high. Twice, the Islanders answered.
Twenty-two seconds after Teravainen's goal at 6:41 of the first, a simple tap-in at the post, the Canes' Warren Foegele was called for high-sticking in the forecheck as he hit Toews along the boards. The Isles quickly took advantage of the penalty, and it was Toews who scored on a shot from the point.
In the second, Faulk first watched from the penalty box as the Canes killed off his hooking penalty. He then bolted out and was on the move, reaching up to grab a pass from Foegele at the blue line and then beating Lehner with a rising backhander _ for Faulk his first career playoff goal.
This time, the building was really rumbling. But the Isles kept their poise, kept working.
When Foegele couldn't corral the puck near the Carolina blue line, Bailey got off a quick shot from the slot that McElhinney couldn't stop. Bailey's fourth of the playoffs made it a 2-2 game.
McElhinney made his share of sharp saves, one doing a split after a Nic Leddy shot, keeping Jordan Eberle from scoring with his left skate. Lehner made some of his best saves late in the second, when the Canes made another push.
