The New York Islanders’ season came to a close last night, falling 6-3 in Game 5 to the Carolina Hurricanes.
For the third time in the series, the Hurricanes pulled ahead very early, when Teuvo Teravainen just threw the puck on net and it somehow got through Semyon Varlamov on a pretty weak shot. Then only about 30 seconds later, Hudson Fasching took a penalty and the Hurricanes quickly capitalized on the ensuing power play, with Andrei Svechnikov just throwing the puck to the net, where it deflected in off Robert Bortuzzo’s stick.
So after a nightmare start, the Islanders found themselves down by a pair only three minutes into the game.
The fast pace continued from there, with Jesperi Kotkaniemi wiring a shot off the crossbar to nearly make it 3-0, before Kyle MacLean ended up on a partial breakaway for New York’s first chance of the game, being denied by Frederik Andersen. But the Islanders ended up with a power play of their own shortly after, and Mike Reilly’s point shot managed to take a deflection and find its way in, getting New York right back into the game, making it 2-1 under four minutes in.
New York them found themselves with another power play chance only minutes later to tie the game but couldn’t convert, and the pace did slow down from there.
However, with about six minutes to go, Alexander Romanov covered the puck with his hand in the crease, resulting in an Evgeny Kuznetsov penalty shot. Kuznetsov came in very slow, waited until Varlamov went for a pokecheck, then quickly went to the forehand to score blocker side, making it a 3-1 game.
By the end of the first period, the Hurricanes were outshooting New York 21-4.
The Islanders came out better early into the second period though, and then minutes into the frame, Brock Nelson took a pass on a bit of a quick rush and beat Andersen five-hole, bringing New York back to within one.
More chances for New York followed, with a power play nearing the midway point of the period, before Brent Burns made a big save on a chance from Ryan Pulock. But then with just 23 seconds left in the frame, a pass came out to Casey Cizikas in the slot, and Andersen stumbled getting over, giving an opportunity for Cizikas to score on the open net just as Andersen was falling, tying the game 3-3 through two periods. So after a bounce-back middle period, the Islanders had clawed their way back into the game.
Under five minutes into the third period though, the Islanders were victim to an absolutely disastrous sequence. First, a broken play resulted in a puck getting to Jack Drury in a good spot in the slot, and Drury was able to beat Varlamov to put Carolina back ahead. Then in shades of Game 2, right off the ensuing faceoff, Carolina dumped the puck down ice, and this time it took a bounce off the glass, ending up right in front of the net for Stefan Noesen to tap it in, quickly giving Carolina another two-goal lead.
New York did have another opportunity to get back into the game with a power play midway through the third period, but couldn’t get anything accomplished. Then late in the game, with the net empty and an extra attacker out, Brock Nelson bobbled the puck at the offensive line and Seth Jarvis took it down ice, icing the game with an empty netter to secure a 6-3 win and close out the series.
So thus ends another season for the Islanders.
New York was pretty much asleep to start the game, getting themselves into yet another early hole, and putting themselves into a spot where they needed to climb back from a two-goal deficit.
At the same time, some credit is deserved for battling back. It would’ve been easy to shut down and just ride out the rest of the game after a start like that, but the Islanders did show some resiliency to climb back.
Of course, the Islanders time and time again seem to be prone to such unbelievable collapses, as seen with the back-to-back third period goals. Call the goals unlucky, but it seems like sometimes for the Islanders, when it rains, it pours.
In terms of goaltending: let me preface this by saying that if Semyon Varlamov wasn’t as good as he was to end the regular season, the Islanders don’t make the playoffs at all. But he put up an underwhelming performance when it counted most. The first goal was awful, the second one was certainly stoppable, and the fifth one (bounce or not), just can’t go in. If the puck is along the boards, then sure, come out and stop it. But when its around the glass, it’s pretty much always best to leave it, because your chances of stopping it are lower anyways. Again, New York’s offense would’ve made it hard to win, with 12 goals over five games. But Varlamov wasn’t good last night.
New York didn’t get enough out of Noah Dobson either, with just one assist in the series. That said, there are probably a lot of players you can point the finger at.
More than anything, the Islanders were outmatched. In a 50/50 game, talent can get the edge sometimes. The Hurricanes weren’t at their best, but even without playing up to their ability, the Islanders still couldn’t make it past five games. New York may have had a good enough team to get into the playoffs to compete, but weren’t contenders.
It’ll be interesting to see where the Islanders go from here. Questions remain about some key free agents in Mike Reilly, Matt Martin, Cal Clutterbuck, and others, while the actual direction of the team should probably get called into question this summer as well.
A full season recap/analysis article will be out this weekend to kick off the offseason coverage.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM THE PLAYOFFS
- Previewing Round 1: Islanders vs. Hurricanes
- Islanders come up short in Game 1, fall 3-1 to Hurricanes
- Islanders blow 3-goal lead to collapse in Game 2, fall behind 2-0 in series
- Islanders on the brink of elimination after Game 3 loss to Hurricanes
New York Islanders Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»