RALEIGH, N.C. — The Hurricanes took control of this series with the tying and winning goals in a nine-second span late in the third period, overwhelming the Islanders in a 5-3 win and a 2-0 lead heading back to Long Island.
Sebastian Aho brought the Hurricanes all the way back from 3-0 down to tie the game with the Carolina net empty with 2:15 to play. After the faceoff and a Carolina dump-in, Jordan Martinook got to a puck before Noah Dobson and banked it off Semyon Varlamov for the go-ahead goal with 2:06 to go, sending the home crowd into a frenzy.
The Islanders got out to a 3-0 lead on Anders Lee’s power-play goal 3:54 into the second. Pierre Engvall and J-G Pageau won battles in the corner and got the puck to Lee in front, who went to his backhand to beat Frederik Andersen.
That felt like the last time the Islanders were in control in this game. Carolina made an expected push, but it probably lasted longer than either side would have thought. On the second power play the Hurricanes drew in the middle period, Jake Guentzel fed Teuvo Teravainen for an open-side power-play goal at 13:01 to bring the home crowd back to life.
The Islanders barely held on the rest of the period, with Jarvis hitting the post and Noah Dobson saving a sure goal by Jarvis with a shot block while Varlamov was still trying to go post-to-post in the closing seconds.
The Islanders needed 13:32 of the opening period to record their first shot on Andersen but only 2:50 after that to take the lead. During a four-on-four, Mike Reilly drove into the Carolina zone and drew two Canes to him, opening the net front for Kyle Palmieri. His third whack at the puck knocked it in at 16:22.
And after a late-period penalty kill on which Andersen denied Bo Horvat on a breakaway, the Islanders cashed in for a huge goal with 14.8 seconds left in the period. Mathew Barzal grabbed a 50-50 puck off a dump-in and found Horvat in the high slot for a one-timer that whizzed by Andersen.
Carolina domination
The Islanders did a good job of limiting the Hurricanes’ zone time and shots in Game 1 despite the loss. Even before Carolina grabbed the win late, this was an onslaught from the time the Islanders took a 3-0 lead.
The Hurricanes finished with a 106-28 shot attempt edge, wearing down the Islanders over the final 36 minutes. The final goals weren’t inevitable, but the Islanders simply didn’t do enough to counter Carolina’s wave after wave attack, spending too much time and energy simply defending and getting pucks out.
What now?
It’s hard to see how the Islanders regroup from such a crushing loss. They scored three times on their first 11 shots on Andersen, seemingly breaking through after being frustrated in Game 1.
But now, blowing a three-goal lead late in regulation and not even getting to overtime in Game 2, heading home to UBS Arena for Game 3 on Thursday doesn’t feel like enough of a change. Patrick Roy has been able to motivate his team during his three months on the job but this will be his biggest test.
Frustration takes over
Understandably, the Islanders melted down after Jake Guentzel’s empty-net goal sealed it, starting a few scrums before the final horn. That won’t help soothe any of the shocked feelings following the collapse in this one, but maybe a bit of fight will allow the Islanders to get this out of their system.
(Top photo of Jake Guentzel and Brock Nelson: Josh Lavallee / NHLI via Getty Images)
