The Islanders dug themselves out of a brutal opening, only to let the game slip away in the final minutes against the defending Cup champion Hurricanes.
Carolina jumped on them right away, scoring twice in the first 3:20 while the Islanders were still shaking off a five-day layoff. From there, though, New York settled in. The early damage held through the first intermission, but the Islanders answered with two quick goals in the opening six minutes of the second period to turn a rough night into a real fight.
The game kept swinging. After another exchange of goals, overtime started to feel like a real possibility. Instead, William Carrier powered through J-G Pageau on a rebound and buried the winner with 5:08 left.
Semyon Varlamov kept the Islanders alive for long stretches, turning aside 34 shots against Carolina’s usual wave of pressure. He also got caught in the chaos late when the Islanders pulled him for an extra skater and had a decent chance to get set up, only for the officials to blow the play dead on what they thought was too many men. No penalty was called, but the sequence only added to the frustration that carried through the finish.
The Islanders’ 6-on-5 push ended badly. Jordan Martinook lost his stick, but New York still couldn’t cash in. The puck bounced past Brayden Schenn, who had been checked out of the play by the stickless Martinook, and Jalen Chatfield then sent it the length of the ice into the empty net.
Special teams were a mixed bag. The power play stayed stuck in the same rut, failing on all four chances.
The penalty kill, though, did its job. That included a key stretch after Adam Pelech’s penalty late in the second and into the third, right after Victor Eklund tied the game at 3-3.
Both Schenn, who scored on a wraparound, and Pelech took issue with their calls, but the Islanders’ kill held.
In the end, the mistakes were enough to tilt it Carolina’s way. Varlamov snared the point shot through traffic, but Pageau was slow to sort out the stick battle with Carrier, and that let Carrier beat both Pageau and Varlamov for his first goal of the season.
A regulation loss fit the way the Islanders played, even if it still stings. They erased the awful start and stayed with the champs all night, only to come up short on the details.
After that odd November layoff in an 84-game season, the Islanders are back home Saturday against the streaking Devils before heading out for the California triangle.
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New York got enough from Semyon Varlamov to stay within striking distance, but the game still tilted in Carolinas favor in the third period. William Carrier provided the decisive goal for the Hurricanes, and the Islanders were left trying to sort out a loss that showed both the challenge of matching Carolinas pace and the need for a sharper finish when the game tightens late. [Read more 🡒]
Islanders Are Running Out Of Time To Turn Good Play Into Points
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Pete DeBoer spent Fridays practice trying to squeeze more out of the group, adjusting both the lines and the power play as the club looks for a spark before the standings start to separate. The Islanders know the margin is shrinking, and with the Eastern Conference wild-card picture tightening, every missed opportunity starts to carry a little more weight. They have shown enough to believe they can climb, but belief only matters if the wins start arriving soon. [Read more 🡒]