New York Islanders: Carolina Hurricanes Take Commanding 3-0 Series Lead

The New York Islanders needed a win in game three. They didn’t get one. Even though they finally scored, their season is now teetering on the edge.

Game three was a must win. Ask New York Islanders head coach Barry Trotz about the outcome of game three before the draw and he’d tell you that his team would win both games on the road. With a 24-14-3 road record, there’s a good reason for Trotz to be confident.

Not to mention the Islanders were the better team across both games one and two. There was a reason to be confident going into game three in Raleigh.

The Islanders showed some of that confidence throughout the game until they just ran out of answers.

First Period

The New York Islanders didn’t come out of the blocks flying. The Canes fed off the home crowd and upped the tempo early in the game. Within six minutes it paid off with Teuvo Teravainen left alone on the far side of the net.

All he had to do was tap it in for the early 1-0 lead. Things didn’t feel great. But shortly after the Islanders went to the power play. With a 16.7 percent efficiency in this series, the Isles PP is just slightly better than it was during the regular season.

Which is to say just a bit better than garbage. But on this one, Devon Toews gets a clear shot from the point and it goes right through Curtis McElhinney. That was the first true Islanders goal of the series.

The Islanders were showing some fight, as opposed to the first two games of the series. They’d leave the first period tied at one, with no clear favorite after 20 minutes.

Second Period

They were better in the second period. The Islanders were on the Hurricanes toes and getting shots on McElhinney. At the nine-minute mark, Justin Faulk would take a hooking call on Brock Nelson thanks to the Islanders offensive presence. The Isles had already scored a power-play goal in the game, maybe they could get another and pull ahead?

Nope! The Hurricanes would kill the penalty, and as soon as they did so they’d lob the puck to Justin Faulk exiting the box who lifted a backhander over a Lehner poke check to make it 2-1 for the Hurricanes.

On that failed New York Islanders power play, Josh Bailey found himself with a golden opportunity to blast a one-timer into the net. He didn’t, instead opting to pass it to a covered man in the slot. The aforementioned ‘covered’ man had no chance and the opportunity was lost. That missed opportunity clearly bothered Bailey.

Less than three minutes later, Bailey picks up a puck from Tom Kuhnhackl at the Carolina blue line and just turns and fires a wrist shot at the net. It goes top shelf glove side on McElhinney to tie the game 2-2.

We’d seen this type of play from the Islanders before. Against the Penguins the Islanders always had an answer. In game one, every time the Penguins scored the Islanders answered. Hopefully, they Isles had found that mojo and were ready to take a step forward in this series.

Third Period

Again. Nope!

Sebastian Aho would bat a Robin Lehner clear from the trapezoid out of the air and then feed it to Justin Williams in the slot. The Hurricanes captain makes a meal of the pass from the Finnish Sebastian Aho and it goes over Lehner for the 3-2 lead.

Don’t blame Lehner on that play 99 times out of 100 that clear the forechecker along the boards. Aho makes an amazing play with some incredible hand-eye coordination to get that puck out of the air and under control.

For the rest of the third period, the Islanders were just a sloppy mess in the neutral zone. They just had no idea how to counter Carolina’s strategy. Which ironically enough was the exact strategy the Isles ran against the Penguins; forecheck them into mistakes.

With two empty net goals the game was over and now the Hurricanes have a commanding 3-0 series lead over the Islanders.

It’s not over yet. But it’s not looking good either.