Islanders lose to Canes in finale; finish season losing 7 of 8 games down the stretch

The New York Islanders closed out their season Tuesday night with a 2-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes at UBS Arena, continuing a difficult late-season stretch.

Mark Jankowski scored the go-ahead goal in the third period for Carolina, which finished the regular season atop the Eastern Conference after winning four of its final five games.

For the Islanders, the loss marked their seventh in the last eight games.

Bo Horvat provided a bright spot, scoring his 300th career NHL goal to tie the game late in the second period. Horvat finished a feed from Mathew Barzal with less than seven minutes remaining in the frame. Rookie Victor Eklund picked up an assist in his NHL debut.

"Everybody sitting in here doesn't like how this feels right now," Horvat said. "It's up to us this summer to get better, find ways to improve individually and collectively as a team. We don't want to be sitting here feeling like this again next year."

Carolina opened the scoring early in the first period when Nikolaj Ehlers beat Islanders goaltender David Rittich just over three minutes into the game. Ehlers finished his first season with the Hurricanes with a career-high 71 points.

The Islanders pushed for momentum after Horvat’s milestone goal, but Jankowski restored Carolina’s lead in the third, and New York was unable to generate an equalizer.

Rittich made 19 saves in the loss, while Brandon Bussi stopped 28 shots for the Hurricanes.

The game also featured NHL debuts on both sides, as Eklund recorded his first point and Felix Unger Sorum assisted on Carolina’s opening goal.

For the Islanders, it was a quiet ending to a season that once held playoff aspirations but ultimately slipped away down the stretch.

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