The Carolina Hurricanes have unlocked the janitor's closet after taking a 3-0 series lead over the New York Islanders following a 3-2 win Thursday night at UBS Arena.
Despite the Islanders defending home ice and the fact that they swapped their starting goaltender, switching out the "Cadillac" Semyon Varlamov with the "Ferrari" Ilya Sorokin, the results were much the same.
In fact, the switch to Sorokin proved to be one of the worst mistake New York has made in the series as the young Russian netminder conceded three goals, all from distance, on 14 shots and was yanked midway through the second period.
Brent Burns got the party going early for Carolina less than five minutes in, sending a quick shot on net that found its way through.
Then not too long after, Dmitry Orlov went post and in off the rush to give the Canes a 2-0 lead.
A Sebastian Aho wrister would be the final shot Sorokin would see as Islanders coach Patrick Roy yanked him following the third goal, but it was a bit too little too late.
The Islanders would find some fight with Pierre Engvall and Brock Nelson each potting home goals from in close, but New York just couldn't do enough to defeat the Canes and more so Frederik Andersen who continued to build up his playoff highlight reel.
Overall, it wasn't the best game from Carolina who saw itself outshot 31-22, losing the faceoff battle 60%-40% and going 0-for-2 on the power play, but it clearly didn't need to be at its best at Elmont Thursday night.
They just needed better goaltending and that's about all she wrote.
Now, the Hurricanes will look to finish the job as they eye a potential four-game sweep on Saturday.