Carolina seizes 3-0 lead in series

Sebastian Aho set up Justin Williams’ go-ahead goal with 9:45 remaining, and the host Carolina Hurricanes beat the New York Islanders 5-2 on Wednesday night to take a 3-0 lead in their second-round series.

Teuvo Teravainen had two goals, including an empty-netter with 57.1 seconds remaining, Justin Faulk also scored and Aho added another empty-net goal with 4.8 seconds to play.

The wild-card Hurricanes — in the playoffs for the first time in a decade — moved within a victory of a berth in the Eastern Conference final and took a 3-0 series lead for just the second time since they moved to North Carolina in 1997. After losing the first two games of its firstround series with Washington, Carolina has won seven of eight.

Curtis McElhinney — who at 35 years and 343 days old became the oldest goalie in NHL history to make his first playoff start — stopped 28 shots in place of Petr Mrazek.

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Sharks 4, Avalanche 2: Logan Couture scored three times, including the go-ahead goal with 7:10 remaining, and San Jose took a 2-1 lead over host Colorado in their Western Conference semifinal series. Couture sent a shot over the shoulder of Avalanche goaltender Philipp Grubauer just 65 seconds after Matt Nieto tied the score.

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Concussions debate: NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman hit back at the notion of banning any kind of head contact, telling a Canadian parliamentary panel that such a rule would be impossible to enforce and lead to the end of hitting. The league has faced calls to penalize any head contact in the hope of eliminating potentially debilitating concussions. Those calling for a strict rule include Ken Dryden, the former Montreal Canadiens goalie and cabinet minister in Paul Martin’s Liberal government.

In sometimes combative testimony, Bettman said such a rule at the NHL level would mean larger players would inevitably land blows on smaller players’ heads in the normal course of play, leading to penalties.

Bettman questioned any direct link between multiple hockey concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).