Sinking Island; Hurricanes Storm Back, Beat the Islanders 5-3 | 4/22/2024

They sat back, believing in the defense they have, and let a storm surge overtake the Island, flooding it with attempts, totaling 110 shot attempts when the final horn sounded. The Islanders mustered 28 total attempts. 

The Isles did not deserve to win. It’s as simple as that. 

Let’s rewind to the opening frame, where to begin the game, the ‘Canes outshot the Islanders 7-0 for the first 13+ minutes. Right off the bat, it was the Hurricanes taking charge. 

Kyle MacLean and Stefan Noesen dropped the gloves at 13:23 of the first, and it was that fight that seemingly sparked the Isles to life.

During 4v4 play, Mike Reilly found Kyle Palmieri alone in front, who stuffed home a follow-up shot to give the Isles a 1-0 lead. 

Bo Horvat, after missing a shorthanded breakaway, slapped home a one-timer off a Mat Bazral pass with less than 15 seconds to go in the 1st frame, giving the Isles a 2-0 edge. After 1, shots were 10-7 Carolina, but the Isles led 2-0. 

Early in the second, the Isles got a power play, and after JG Pageau found an open Lee in front, a swift cut to the backhand made it 3-0 New York.

After that, the Islanders took their foot off the gas, even with Carolina down to just 5 defenseman after Brett Pesce exited with a lower-body injury that, postgame, Rod Brind’Amour deemed “not looking good,” 

Seth Jarvis, who was perhaps Carolina’s best player tonight, wired a shot that Semyon Varlamov stopped, but Jake Guentzel collected the rebound and touched it to Teuvo Teravainen, who put home the first of Carolina’s goals. 

The goal was on the powerplay after Varlamov slashed Noesen for being in the crease. The goal also not only rejuvenated the Hurricanes, it rejuvenated the arena full of fans. 

The rest of the period was seemingly spent in the Islanders zone, and that carried into the 3rd. After buzzing all night long, Jarvis got wide open at the top of the left circle, wired home a shot over a sliding Robert Bortuzzo and past the blocker of Varlamov. 

The goal was a direct result of a failed clearance, a theme hampering the Isles all night, as the turnover allowed Jordan Staal to find Jarvis open across the zone.

Lee postgame to reporters said “We didn’t get the clears. It’s simple.” 

Aho tied the game off another Islander turnover when they won a faceoff and failed to do anything positive with the puck, with Carolina having an empty net. 

The ensuing face-off saw Noah Dobson turn the puck over to Jordan Martinook in the neutral zone, Jack Drury dumped it in, and Dobson inexplicably tried to outmuscle the notably stronger Martinook, who laughed as he just bounced away with the puck and put it off Varlamov’s left skate as he was looking the wrong way.

Guentzel scored an empty netter, and the Islanders proceeded to blow their lids, with Brock Nelson and Palmieri getting mad at Guentzel for no discernible reason before Matt Martin jumped Noesen afterward.

All in all, the humiliation was complete. It is a total indignation, yet thoroughly routine for this Islanders squad. It’s the 25th-blown 3rd-period lead.

It’s the fourth time the Isles have blown 3 goal lead, one to this very same Hurricanes team back in October. 

The most unforgivable part is the entire theme of this season was learning from last year, to not sit back and get comfortable with the lead. After all, in game 6, where the Islanders had the Hurricanes on the ropes but couldn’t find a second goal, sat back in the 3rd, and let the Canes storm back and eliminate them. 

The players are mostly the same. The opponent is too. The Islanders have a new coach, Patrick Roy, but he hasn’t been able to stop the woes. In his postgame presser, he said he thought about using his timeout at 3-3 but trusted his players on the ice.

They let him down. Old habits die hard, or apparently don’t die ever. 

In the end, this Islanders team, just like last year, comes home to UBS Arena down 2-0 to the Carolina Hurricanes, who have won 10 of 12 playoff games against the Islanders since 2019. The Islanders have to win 4 of 5 to stay alive. 

“This one f***** hurts,” Lee added postgame. The sting of that loss is potent, and with two days off before Thursday’s game 3, all the Islanders can do is feel that sting and try and pick themselves up off the mat one more time this season, a season that is unlike any in Isles history.