RALEIGH, N.C. _ Justin Williams said it from the start. The Carolina Hurricanes weren't satisfied with just making the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2009, as pleasing as that was.
They wanted more, a lot more. And, as Williams might say, why not?
As captain of the Canes, as a three-time Stanley Cup winner, Williams has led the way as much as anyone. The Canes now are in the Eastern Conference finals, disposing of the New York Islanders in four straight games in the second round.
A 5-2 victory Friday at PNC Arena finished off the sweep, which many would say was unexpected with the two teams near mirror-images of each other. Then again, so was the double-overtime Game 7 victory over the Washington Capitals.
The Canes now will have time to rest and wait as the Columbus Blue Jackets and Boston Bruins decide their Eastern Conference final opponent. The Blue Jackets and Bruins are tied 2-2 in their series, which resumes Saturday in Boston.
If the Blue Jackets win the series, the Canes would host the first two games at PNC Arena. Should the Bruins win, the first two games would be in Boston.
The Canes had reached the Eastern finals each of the last three times they've been in the playoffs _ in 2002, 2006 and 2009, capping the 2006 run with the Stanley Cup. The last nine seasons have been frustrating for the Canes, on the outside looking, but that special feeling is back in Rod Brind'Amour's first year as a head coach.
On Friday, it was Curtis McElhinney in net again for the Canes, winning for a third straight time since coming in for an injured Petr Mrazek in Game 2 in New York. Canes fans were chanting "Cur-tis! Cur-tis!" in the third period after McElhinney gloved a shot by Mathew Barzal and calmly gave it a no-big deal flip to the ref after the whistle.
McElhinney allowed a late goal, but no one really cared. The celebration was on.
After Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera sounded the warning siren before the game, the Canes weren't at the best in the first period. They got out of the period with a 1-1 tie because of what's become a rarity: a power-play goal.
Sebastian Aho got the goal although the Isles Adam Pelech knocked the puck past goalie Robin Lehner. For Carolina, make it the first power-play score in eight games. And a start.
The second period was all Canes, who were quicker, more aggressive. Carolina, with Brind'Amour making some line adjustments, would score three times as Teuvo Teravainen, Greg McKegg and then Williams found the net, urged on throughout by a rowdy PNC Arena crowd that sensed a knockout punch coming.
When Williams backhanded a Jordan Staal pass past Lehner at 8:51 of the second, it was 4-1. Isles coach Barry Trotz, who coached the Caps to the Stanley Cup last year, used his timeout at that point to both try and stall the Canes' momentum and get Lehner out of the game for goalie Thomas Greiss.
There was the thought Trotz might use Greiss on Friday given his success against the Canes _ Greiss beat them three times this season, allowing three goals. But Trotz again went with Lehner, a Vezina Trophy finalist for NHL goalie of the year and one of the league's best comeback stories this season. Trotz did make line changes and the Isles forced an early penalty on Andrei Svechnikov and then scoring on the power platy _ Barzal with the goal.
Svechnikov would have an answer. His goal late in the game had the noise level at its highest, the rookie leaping into the glass.
After the game, there were the customary team handshakes. The Islanders were going home. The Hurricanes still have hockey to play, with so many opportunities.
