ELMONT, N.Y. — Instead of sweeping the New York Islanders out of the playoffs, Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour watched his team give its opponents new life on Saturday afternoon.

Forward Mathew Barzal‘s double-overtime deflection goal won Game 4 for the Islanders 3-2, sending the series back to Raleigh, North Carolina.

“They’re back in it. We gave them some hope here now,” Brind’Amour said. “We’ve talked about how tough it is to win four games in a row, especially with the game being as even as they are. It could have gone either way in the previous three. We expected it to be a long series and now we’ve just got to focus on the next one.”

Barzal powered the Islanders with his first two goals of the playoffs, tying the game in the second period and then winning it by deflecting home a shot from the point by defenseman Robert Bortuzzo at 1:24 of the second overtime.

“We weren’t going to go down without a fight and now we’re in a fight,” said Bortuzzo, who atoned for a critical third-period penalty with the assist. “The plan was to just get one win. We got that, we regroup and we move forward.”

All four games of the series have been competitive into the third period. Barzal said it’s the most tightly played series he has ever experienced. “I don’t think I’ve been in a series where the checking is this tight. It’s on both sides really,” he said. “Every shift we’re out there, the checking is on another level right now.”

For the Islanders, there was no margin for error. Carolina had a chance to eliminate them in four straight games; beyond that, the Hurricanes had a chance to eliminate the Islanders in overtime on Long Island for a second straight postseason, having beaten the Islanders in six games during the first round in 2023.

But coach Patrick Roy said that he didn’t stress those do-or-die stakes to his team during overtime.

“It never really crossed my mind that’d be the end of a season,” he said. “I just said to the guys [in overtime] that it doesn’t have to be pretty. A lot of times in overtime any shot could turn out to be dangerous.”

After the Islanders started the game strongly, captain Anders Lee took a tripping penalty 7:14 into the game. Seth Jarvis converted on the ensuing Carolina power play for the 1-0 lead. The Islanders found the equalizer at 10:10 of the second period, as Barzal scored his first of the playoffs on a shot from above the circles that beat Frederik Andersen.

New York grabbed the lead 1:38 into the third period on a Jean-Gabriel Pageau power-play goal, his first of the playoffs. Carolina’s Sebastian Aho was in the box on a late second-period tripping penalty. But Carolina knotted the game with 5:52 left in regulation. With Bortuzzo in the box for hooking, Stefan Noesen scored his second of the playoffs on a deflection in front of goalie Semyon Varlamov.

It remained tied until Barzal’s goal, thanks in part to 18 overtime saves by Varlamov.

“Awesome. Awesome game. We’re still in it, which is very exciting,” said Varlamov, who made 42 saves on his 36th birthday. “I was just happy because you don’t want to go to the third or fourth overtime. We want to finish the game as soon as you can.”

Roy started Varlamov in Games 1 and 2 but gave Ilya Sorokin the start in Game 3. That backfired, and Sorokin was pulled in the second period in favor of Varlamov.

“What I love about Varley right now is that everything seems easy. He’s not over-moving. He’s square, he’s big in the net,” Roy said.

There’s a lot about the Islanders’ Game 4 effort that Roy loved – especially the fact that there will now be a Game 5 on Tuesday night.

“You have no idea how proud I’m of this group. I mean, they came out and played hard. Even when (Carolina) took the lead, they stayed calm and stayed focused. The guys were determined to find a way to win this hockey game,” he said.

Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev made a stunning return to the lineup as his club looked to avoid elimination in Game 4 of its first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Florida Panthers on Saturday.

Sergachev had been out since fracturing the tibia and fibula in his left leg on Feb. 7. The injury was so bad that Lightning coach Jon Cooper had said the Lightning would need to “go far” in the postseason to see Sergachev back in. But Tampa’s top defenseman was apparently cleared for action just 80 days following that break to be a last-minute addition to the Lightning’s starters on Saturday.

Having Sergachev available is exactly the boost Tampa could be looking for in a must-win game. The Lightning would be swept from the postseason with another loss to the Panthers, and Tampa Bay has struggled containing Florida’s top skaters throughout the series. Even if Sergachev isn’t at his best, he can have a positive impact on Tampa Bay’s defensive effort as they try to slow down Matthew Tkachuk (three goals in three games) and Carter Verhaeghe (five points).

Tampa Bay spent most of the regular season without Sergachev available in a difficult year health-wise for the blueliner. Prior to breaking his leg, Sergachev had missed 17 games in the fall because of another lower-body injury. He skated in just 34 tilts total, with two goals and 17 assists.

Whatever Sergachev can offer to Tampa Bay now might swing some momentum back in their favor. The recent two-time Stanley Cup champions haven’t tapped into their scoring depth or found enough ways to beat Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, their power play has been misfiring (at 16.7%) and the Lightning are tied for the second-most goals against in the postseason (11) going into Game 4.

That latter statistic is where Sergachev can do the most to help Tampa and give the Lightning a chance to extend their season another game.

DENVER — Winnipeg Jets defenseman Brenden Dillon is day-to-day and his Game 4 status is unclear after he lacerated his hand at the end of Game 3 against the Colorado Avalanche on Friday.

Jets coach Rick Bowness said after practice Saturday that Dillon’s hand required multiple stitches after it appeared to have been cut by a skate blade.

“It didn’t look good,” Bowness said. “So, it was a big sigh of relief that there wasn’t any damage done. Give our doctors credit. They got right at it and did a great job stitching him up.”

Dillon’s injury came at the end of a third period that saw the Jets surrender a 2-1 lead and allow five unanswered goals in a 6-2 loss, which gave the Avs a 2-1 series lead.

Several players were involved in the scrum before Dillon skated off the ice toward the Jets’ bench clutching his bloodied, lacerated hand.

While there were replays of the incident, there are still questions about what specific events led to Dillon’s hand being cut.

Dillon’s defense partner, Neal Pionk, said he didn’t know something happened to his teammate until he skated back to the bench. Pionk said he has also watched replays of the scrum and still didn’t know the specifics of what led to Dillon’s lacerated hand.

“You get mayhem in there and all those bodies in there, it’s tough to figure it out,” Bowness said. “But, it’s obviously a skate blade got in there somewhere.”

His potential return or his possible absence comes at a time when the Jets are trying to solve their defensive issues while evening the series or they risk returning to Winnipeg facing potential elimination.

The Jets opened with a 7-6 win only to allow five goals in the three-goal loss in Game 2 that saw the Avalanche tie the series.

After allowing just four goals in three regular-season games against the Avs, the Jets have allowed 17 goals in three playoff games.

“He’s one of our toughest competitors and a tremendous teammate,” Bowness said of Dillon. “He gives you 100 percent every shift out there. He’s tough as nails, he battles everybody, he blocks shots. He does everything you want your veteran D to do. He’s a great leader on the ice and in the room too. He brings a lot to our team.”