Round 1, Game 4 Preview: NY Islanders vs Carolina Hurricanes

The New York Islanders look to carry momentum from their Game 3 win at home on Friday night and even their best-of-seven series with the Carolina Hurricanes at 2-2 when they host the Canes on Sunday afternoon at UBS Arena at Belmont Park. Carolina has lost seven straight road playoff games dating back to last season and eight overall. Face-off is scheduled from Elmont, NY at 1 PM.

Last Game

Kyle Palmieri scored on the power play with 3:51 remaining to give the Islanders a 2-1 lead as the Islanders went on to a 5-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals on Friday night at UBS Arena.

Following the Palmieri goal, the Islanders went on to score three more as Matt Martin scored 44 seconds later at 16:53. That was followed by a Scott Mayfield empty-net goal and Anders Lee scoring to end the cap off the win. Ilya Sorokin made 15 saves in the first period and 30 for the game in the win. Jesper Fast scored for Carolina, and Antti Raanta made 32 saves in the loss.

The final four goals of the game happened in a span of 2 minutes and 18 seconds, the fastest four goals in playoff history, breaking a mark previous set in 1944.

Players to Watch

For the Islanders, defenseman Ryan Pulock set the tone early in Game 1 with his heavy hit on Jack Drury, and his intensity hasn't slowed down in the series since it happened. Pulock had nine hits in Game 1 and scored the team's only goal. He Game 2 collected seven hits in 26:12 TOI, and then in Game 3, he had the primary assist on Casey Cizikas' second-period goal that broke a scoreless tie.

"I can't really take too much credit. That pass from Pulock was unbelievable," Cizikas said, who also noted that Pulock has been playing like an All-Star. "I didn't even think he saw me, but he made a beautiful pass, and I was able to just get it over his shoulder and into the net."

For Carolina, Jordan Staal continues to be matched up as much as possible against the Lee-Horvat-Barzal line and has been able to contain the group at 5-on-5. Staal also had the primary assist on Jesper Fast's OT winner in Game 2. As the series goes deeper, the tone set by the Carolina captain will be key for a team that is facing adversity with key injuries that carry over from the regular season and one to Teuvo Teravainen suffered in Game 2.

“The grind is part of the reason I enjoy it so much,” Staal said in The News & Observer. “It’s not easy. Every play, every game matters. But yeah, staying focused and being willing to fight through the grind, fight through the adversity and having that feeling of coming out on top is what we all play for.”

Projected Lines

Islanders

Anders Lee- Bo Horvat- Mat Barzal
Pierre Engvall- Brock Nelson- Kyle Palmieri
Zach Parise- JG Pageau- Hudson Fasching
Matt Martin- Casey Cizikas- Cal Clutterbuck

Adam Pelech- Ryan Pulock
Sebastian Aho- Scott Mayfield
Alexader Romanov - Noah Dobson

Ilya Sorokin
Semyon Varlamov

Hurricanes

Jack Drury- Sebastian Aho- Seth Jarvis
Stefan Noesen- Jesperi Kotkaniemi- Martin Necas
Jordan Martinook- Jordan Staal- Jesper Fast
Jesse Puljujarvi- Paul Statsny- Derek Stepan

Jaccob Slavin- Brent Burns
Brady Skjei- Brett Pesce
Shayne Gostisbehere- Jalen Chatfield

Antti Raanta
Pyotr Kochetkov