NHL playoffs: Hurricanes top Islanders 1-0 in Game 1; Sharks top Avalanche

Jordan Staal scored 4:04 into overtime to give the Carolina Hurricanes to 1-0 victory over the New York Islanders on Friday night in the opener of the Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Nino Niederreiter sent a shot that caromed off the end boards and came out to the right side, where Staal quickly put it in off Robin Lehner’s left skate.

Petr Mrazek stopped 31 shots for his fifth career postseason shutout as the Hurricanes won in New York just 48 hours after beating Washington on the road in two overtimes in Game 7 of the first-round series.

Lehner also finished with 31 saves for New York. Back in Brooklyn at Barclays Center after opening the playoffs at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, the Islanders were playing for the first time in 10 days after finishing off their first-round sweep of Pittsburgh.

Both teams had their chances and each goalie made plenty of nice saves throughout the game, the first in Carolina’s playoff history to go to overtime tied 0-0.

New York’s Ryan Pulock fired a slap shot from beyond the left circle that landed in the netting just outside the left goalpost with 4 1/2 minutes remaining in regulation. The arena goal horn sounded and fans started cheering, but the officials immediately waved it off and announced it was no goal.

San Jose 5, Colorado 2

Joe Thornton sparked a three-goal outburst in the second period after San Jose killed off a four-minute penalty, leading the Sharks to a 5-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series on Friday night.

San Jose trailed 2-1 when Brenden Dillon was called for a high-sticking double minor early in the second period. The Sharks managed to kill both penalties and then took over the game with a strong performance from the third line.

Thornton tied it midway through the period off a feed from Marcus Sorensen on a 2-on-1 rush shortly after the penalty was killed. Kevin Labanc, the third member of that line, gave the Sharks the lead with an impressive sequence that featured him deking Mikko Rantanen by playing the puck through his legs before scoring from the slot.

Brent Burns added the fourth goal late in the period when his shot from the boards deflected past Philipp Grubauer with Sorensen in front of the net. Thornton got an assist on that goal, giving him 100 career helpers in the postseason.

Gustav Nyquist scored the first goal for San Jose, Timo Meier added an empty-netter and Martin Jones made 26 saves to send the Sharks to their fourth straight win. Burns also had three assists.

Game 2 is Sunday in San Jose.