3 reasons the Islanders can bounce back from a tough loss in Game 1 to Carolina

Luck shouldn’t play a role, but it did

Wow, it’s so easy to argue that the Islanders did more in the offensive zone than what the final score indicated. Carolina’s goaltender, Frederik Andersen, may have enjoyed an epic game on the stat sheet with 33 saves on 34 shot attempts, good for a 0.971 save percentage, but how many times did the post give him help?

Sure, Andersen made a few showstopping saves, but if luck wasn’t 100 percent (or seemingly) on Carolina’s side yesterday, the Isles are leading the series right now. Even more impressive is the fact New York logged 34 shots on goal and it came following a regular season when they averaged just 30.1 per game, 19th in the NHL. 

They created chaos, which is mandatory in the playoffs, and gave themselves enough looks and the correct shot selection to win. If there is any good news here, it’s that luck can’t bail out Carolina for another three games, so if the Isles give the Canes another few matchups like that, the end result may turn out in their favor. 

If they get just a little more accurate with their respective shots, Game 2 will be interesting. No guarantees they will bounce back, but the Isles have little to be discouraged about following Game 1.