The Carolina Hurricanes shocked the New York Islanders on Monday night, scoring the game-tying and winning goals just nine seconds apart in the third period, giving them a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference Round 1 series.

“This one’s long from over, but right now, this one hurts the gut,” Islanders captain Anders Lee said after the 5-3 loss in Raleigh, North Carolina.

With his team’s net empty, Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho deflected an Andrei Svechnikov pass to tie the game with 2:15 left in the third period, erasing a 3-0 lead the Islanders had built in the first 23:54 of the game.

“When you’re down three, it’s a once in a lifetime-type of game,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “I’m just proud of the way they kept playing.”

Jordan Martinook gave Carolina the lead just nine seconds later, stealing the puck from defenseman Noah Dobson on the forecheck and tucking it behind Islanders goalie Semyon Varlamov, who was looking in the opposite direction in anticipation of Dobson having moved the puck.

“The momentum of us tying the game and the energy that it sends … I don’t really know how to describe it,” Martinook said. “You have this juice that hits you.”

The Hurricanes set a new NHL record for the fastest game-tying and winning goals scored in the third period of a playoff game. It was the seventh time in NHL history that a team had tied and won the game in the final three minutes of a playoff game. Carolina was already on that list, having tied and beaten the New Jersey Devils in a conference quarterfinal game in 2009.

Teuvo Teravainen and Seth Jarvis had the goals before Aho’s, while Jake Guentzel added an empty netter to seal the win.

“We had a good start. We took a 3-0 lead,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “For some reason, we started losing those 1-on-1 battles. That was the biggest difference from the first half of the game to the second half.”

Carolina dominated possession against the Islanders, with a 110-to-28 advantage in shot attempts. That was never more evident than in the third period, when the Islanders were outshot 17-1.

“We have to be better there. We can’t just get a lead and try to hold on,” Dobson said. “They’re too good of a team for that. This stings right now. We’ve got to learn from it.”

Game 3 of the series is Thursday night at UBS Arena on Long Island.

“It’s a tough loss, no doubt about it. We had a chance to win that game,” Roy said. “But we’ve got to regroup, play well in our building and win game number three.”

The Hurricanes might be short-handed when the series shifts to New York. After the win, Brind’Amour addressed the lower-body injury that defenseman Brett Pesce suffered in the second period, saying it’s “not looking good,” and that the veteran was scheduled for further evaluation Tuesday.

BOSTON — On the heels of a 3-2 loss, coach Jim Montgomery stood behind his choice to start Linus Ullmark over Jeremy Swayman in Game 2 of the Boston Bruins‘ first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night.

Ullmark, who finished with 30 stops, got the call in net even after Swayman was dominant making 35 saves for Boston in a 5-1 victory over the Leafs in Saturday’s Game 1.

“No second guesses,” Montgomery said. “He was terrific. Made multiple big-time saves.”

Montgomery had flat-out refused to name a starter leading up to Monday’s game while being peppered with questions about whether he’d keep the Bruins’ established rotation alive. Boston had strictly alternated between Swayman and Ullmark since February; Monday was the 28th straight game they’d employed the same tactic.

It just wasn’t something Montgomery was willing to comment on publicly, and the guessing game continued right until warmups of Game 2.

“I don’t know why we would divulge information,” Montgomery said earlier Monday. “If you’re preparing for a game, there are parts of a goaltender that are part of your pre-scout. So that’s an advantage for us, right? If [they] don’t know who’s starting.”

In the end, it was hard for Montgomery to go wrong. Ullmark is the NHL’s reigning Vezina Trophy winner, and both he and Swayman had strong stats in the regular season. Swayman was 25-10-8 with a .916 SV% and 2.53 GAA, while Ullmark was 22-10-7 with 2.57 GAA.

Swayman had been an obvious choice to tap in Game 1 given his 3-0-0 record against Toronto in the regular season. Ullmark was equally excellent in Game 2 and gave Boston every chance to take a commanding 2-0 lead over Toronto in the series.

The Bruins were in control early, taking a 2-1 over the Leafs after the first period with goals from Morgan Geekie and David Pastrnak. Boston would go down a defenseman in the second when Andrew Peeke exited, leaving the Bruins with a five-man rotation on the back end. Montgomery had no update on Peeke following the loss.

Toronto then tied the game with a power play goal from John Tavares in the middle frame to make it 2-2 heading into the third. The Leafs turned up the pressure there while Boston looked increasingly flat-footed, and Ullmark had to execute two exceptional glove saves — one in particular against Nick Robertson — to keep the score knotted.

It took Auston Matthews, the NHL’s Rocket Richard Trophy winner with 69 goals in the regular season, slipping behind Bruins’ defenseman Charlie McAvoy to finally beat Ullmark with a breakaway strike to give the Leafs a 3-2 advantage late in the third. It was the first time Toronto had led Boston in their past five meetings.

“There’s a reason he scored 69,” Ullmark said of Matthews’ winner. “[I’ll] try to get him next time.”

When that next opportunity comes for Ullmark, only Montgomery knows for sure. The series turns now to Toronto with Game 3 set for Wednesday. Montgomery’s focus isn’t immediately on who will be in the crease, but on improving how the Bruins play in front of whoever earns the next start.

“We’re not playing fast enough,” Montgomery said. “We’re slow in transition, which is not allowing us to possess pucks and not allowing us to get in on the forecheck well enough. I didn’t think our urgency was where it needed to be to prevail tonight.”

Maple Leafs forward William Nylander missed Game 2 with an undisclosed injury and has yet to appear in the series. While Toronto hasn’t revealed what Nylander is dealing with, it’s reported to have flared up for the winger sometime after the regular-season finale last Wednesday.

With the series tied 1-1, Game 3 is Wednesday in Toronto.

NEW YORK — The New York Yankees and Oakland Athletics opened their four-game series with a rare Monday matinee at Yankee Stadium, and manager Aaron Boone was in the dugout for all of one batter during a 2-0 loss.

The Yankees manager was ejected five pitches into the game by home-plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt in an unusual sequence caught on the television broadcast.

It began when Athletics leadoff hitter Esteury Ruiz was hit by a pitch on an 0-2 count; the pitch clearly plunked Ruiz on the foot, but the Yankees’ dugout thought Ruiz swung at it. As a result, Boone communicated his disapproval — until Wendelstedt replied.

“You’re not yelling at me,” Wendelstedt yelled at Boone, clear as day on the broadcast. “I did what I was supposed to do and checked. I’m looking for him to get hit by the pitch. You got anything else to say, you’re gone.”

One pitch later, Boone was ejected.

Wendelstedt gave Boone the hook after hearing someone’s objection from the direction of the Yankees’ dugout. The YES television broadcast had its camera on Boone, who was looking away and not saying anything.

Boone sprinted out to protest to Wendelstedt, insisting that a fan behind the dugout — not him or another Yankee — spoke up.

“You’re done!” Wendelstedt said. “I don’t care who said it. You’re gone!”

“What do you mean you don’t care?” Boone screamed as he rushed out onto the field. “I did not say a word. It was up above our dugout. Bulls—! Bulls—! I didn’t say anything. I did not say anything, Hunter. I did not say a f—ing thing.”

The broadcast then hushed the audio on the broadcast as Boone continued to argue, as his animated protest went for naught. Boone watched the remainder of the game on television while bench coach Brad Ausmus took over as acting manager in the dugout.

After the game, Boone, still stupefied, again emphasized that someone behind the dugout had said something that derided Wendelstedt.

“It’s embarrassing,” Boone said.

Wendelstedt hadn’t yet seen a replay of the episode when he spoke to a pool reporter after the game. He explained he thought the “cheap shot” came from a player at the far end of the Yankees’ dugout.

“So instead of me being aggressive and walking down to the far end and trying to figure out who might have said it, I don’t want to eject a ballplayer,” said Wendelstedt, a major-league umpire since 1998. “We need to keep them in the game. That’s what the fans pay to see. Aaron Boone runs the Yankees. He got ejected.”

Boone said he was more upset with first-base umpire John Tumpane’s ruling on appeal that Ruiz didn’t swing at the pitch. The manager said his only issue with Wendelstedt was that he believed Wendelstedt could’ve ruled that Ruiz swung. When Wendelstedt responded with his reasoning, which concluded with warning of an ejection, Boone said he backed off.

“I was standing down and I heard, ‘You’re gone, Aaron,'” Boone said. “I couldn’t believe it.”

Boone said he didn’t know what the fan shouted at Wendelstedt. He said he only heard somebody yell from that direction. He said he plans on reaching out to Major League Baseball about the situation.

“This isn’t my first ejection,” Wendelstedt said to the pool reporter. “In the entire of my career, I have never ejected a player or a manager for something a fan has said. I understand that’s going to be part of a story or something like that because that’s what Aaron was portraying. I heard something come from the end of the dugout, had nothing to do with his area. But he’s the manager of the Yankees. So, he’s the one that had to go.”

It wasn’t the earliest ejection in MLB history.

Baltimore manager Earl Weaver was ejected by Ron Luciano while exchanging lineup cards before the second game of a doubleheader against Texas on Aug. 15, 1975, still upset over a call that led to his getting tossed in the fourth inning of the opener.

Los Angeles Angels pitcher John Lackey was ejected by plate umpire Bob Davidson on May 15, 2009, after his first pitch of the season sailed behind Ian Kinsler and the next hit the Rangers’ leadoff hitter in the ribs.

Toronto hitting coach Guillermo Martínez was tossed by first base umpire Lance Barrett after exchanging the lineup card before a game against the Chicago White Sox on June 22, 2022, a carryover from action the previous night.

It was Boone’s second ejection of the season. His 35 ejections since 2018 are the most in the majors among managers.

“I feel like I am treated fairly by umpires and have a good relationship with a lot of them,” Boone said. “I’m obviously a little more vocal and fiery than some, so I’m sure it gets some people perked up. But, overall, I feel like I’m treated fairly.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.