The Islanders have been resilient all season and in the last few years. It is surprising that they let a 3-0 lead evaporate and implode the way they did.
What a choke job! There’s no other way to describe the Islanders’ 5-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday night at PNC Arena, which puts them down two games to none in the best-of-seven first-round series. The Islanders took a 3-1 lead heading into the third period and just imploded altogether by taking penalties and doing nothing offensively. The Hurricanes scored four unanswered goals in the third period.
Here’s what was damning about this loss: The visitors were outshot 39-12 by the home team. They generated seven shots in the first period, four in the second, and one shot in the third. The bottom line was that no one led when the Islanders needed it the most.
The Islanders lost by hoping for the best until the end of regulation. They did nothing with the puck and did not get into Carolina’s zone much. Whatever they did in the first period didn’t happen in the third period. They earned this outcome by playing to lose. It will be hard to maintain the lead by registering one meager shot in the third, plain and simple.
When the Islanders needed their stars to play like stars in a crucial period, they were nowhere to be seen. If Kyle MacLean is the only one doing anything in the game’s final period, that’s a problem with due respect to him. It’s all well and good that Bo Horvat scored the second goal in the first period, but he came up lame when the team really needed him to do something. Is Brock Nelson aware that the playoffs started and that this is his time to shine? The Islanders checking line was neutralized. Why wasn’t Kyle Palmieri in a position to be in the crease and try to score a greasy goal in the third? All of this should explain why Islanders fans are numb and wondering what happened out there.
When the Hurricanes scored their second goal of the game on Seth Jarvis finishing off a scoring chance on Jordan Staal’s feed, Islanders head coach Patrick Roy should have called a timeout and settled his players down rather than play through it. Clearly, the players were exhausted from chasing the Hurricanes for so long. They could have used a breather for a few minutes, especially with the home team’s momentum and the home crowd waking up.
Everything fell apart with 2:15 to go in the game. Once Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho deflected an Andrei Svechnikov pass to tie the game, the Hurricanes had the Islanders where they wanted them. Nine seconds later, Jordan Martinook stole the puck from Noah Dobson and found the sweet spot to score where Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov was not looking.
Game, Set, Match. The collapse was done. The Islanders completed their collapse by starting fights with the Hurricanes.
It doesn’t get any easier. Yes, the Islanders are home for the next two games, but the Hurricanes can win a game or two at UBS Arena. The Islanders have to win four of the next five, which will be challenging against the Hurricanes.
They needed to win at least one road game in the first two games at PNC Arena. They failed to do so. It will be hard to win Games 5 and 7 on the road in a venue where the team struggles often.
Roy has a crisis to deal with. He will have to figure out how to get his rattled players going. He needs to come up with a better game plan than he has shown in Games 1 and 2. This may be too much to ask him to do now.
I have no idea where the Islanders go from here. Going home should help, but it does not guarantee wins. The Hurricanes clearly have no fear of playing against them anymore. If the Islanders couldn’t find a way to protect a 3-0 lead, how will they win this series by winning four of five?
Right now, the Hurricanes are just the better team in this series. They play fast-break hockey, picking up turnovers and rebounds and racing down the ice, freeing up their best shooters and leaving defenders scrambling. That’s what they did last year, and that’s why they did it in their comeback.
The way it’s going, this has the making of a sweep or a gentleman’s sweep.
