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The New York Islanders are down 2-0 in their first round series against the Carolina Hurricanes, following a 4-3 overtime loss in Game 2.
The Islanders came out quite a bit better than in Game 1, and Casey Cizikas had a good chance on a breakaway early, but was stopped by Antti Raanta. Then once again, it was Carolina who opened the scoring early, with Paul Stastny tipping in a shot from Jaccob Slavin. While the teams did exchange some chances afterwards, one of the more eventful parts of the frame came in the final 10 seconds or so, when the Hurricanes had some great chances to extend the lead right before the end of the frame. However, Ilya Sorokin stayed solid and the Islanders got to intermission down only a goal.
In the second period though, the Islanders took their second double minor of the game and it cost them – though not in a traditional goal against. New York’s Sebastian Aho took a swing at a mid air dump-in and somehow put it right on his own net, beating Sorokin on a wild play to put Carolina ahead by two.
The Islanders did respond though, with Kyle Palmieiri managing to tuck a shot through Raanta, cutting the lead in half. New York then started to sustain some pressure from there and late in the period, Mathew Barzal beat Raanta with a quick release, tying the game through 40 minutes.
Then in the third frame, after a quiet first half of the period, Brock Nelson came down the wing and was able to blow a puck by Raanta with a great shot, giving the Islanders their first lead of the series. That lead didn’t last long though, and only three minutes later, Jaccob Slavin banked a shot off Sorokin from below the goal line, tying things back up. Ryan Pulock took a penalty soon after, but the Islanders were able to get to overtime.
In the extra frame though, a high-stick on Scott Mayfield was completely missed and just afterwards, Jordan Staal found Jesper Fast on a rush and he was able to beat Sorokin, giving Carolina the Game 2 win.
Obviously, it’s a disappointing result for the Islanders. They put together a pretty solid game and managed to overcome a two-goal deficit to take the lead, so getting a road win to tie things up before heading home would’ve been huge.
It's fair to say the Islanders got unlucky: the second goal against was a complete fluke and then the third goal was one Sorokin can’t give up. Then factor in the missed penalty on Scott Mayfield on the OT winner, and it’s easy to come away from the loss frustrated.
They also spent a lot of time shorthanded, taking 12 minutes worth of penalties and not having a single power play for themselves. Again, even if they’re able to kill those off, they waste a lot of time killing and not being able to build any sort of momentum, spending close to 50 per cent of the first half of the game shorthanded.
I think there are certainly positives, given the Islanders actually were generating more chances for themselves at even strength. Of course though, heading back back basically needing to win both Games 3 and 4 isn’t ideal.
At the same time, the Hurricanes struggled on the road last postseason, losing all six of their road games. Until New York loses a game at home, they’re very much in this series and I think their play through much of last night’s game showed that.
Game 3 takes place tomorrow night.
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New York Islanders Blogger • 
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