Islanders rookie Kyle MacLean scored his first career playoff goal in his first career playing game to tie the score against Carolina at 1-1 in the first period.

RALEIGH, NC -- Gritty goals are the name of the game in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Given the Carolina Hurricanes' defensive prowess, the New York Islanders were going to need to score some gritty goals this series. 

And that's how they got on the board in the first period. 

After going down 1-0 early, with Anders Lee taking a holding penalty and Evgeny Kuznetsov potting a power-play goal 12 seconds into the man advantage, the Islanders needed to find an answer quickly to quiet PNC Arena.

Less than seven minutes after the Hurricanes goal, rookie Kyle MacLean, in his first career playoff game, tied the score at 1-1.

Alexander Romanov shot from the point, with Anders Lee getting a piece of the shot. Hurricanes goaltender Fredrik Andersen did get a piece of the shot but couldn't find it...and Kyle MacLean did:

It was a huge goal, one that allowed the Islanders to get to their game a little bit, entering the first intermission knotted rather than down.