3 Takeaways: Islanders Fall to Hurricanes 5-2

The New York Islanders winless streak reached five games (0-4-1) on Sunday afternoon, as they fell 5-2 to the Carolina Hurricanes at UBS Arena.
Ross Johnston and Ryan Pulock scored for the Islanders, but Max Domi's goal at 5:40 of the third period broke a 2-2 tie. Derek Stepan and Seth Jarvis scored for the Hurricanes early in the first period, while Jesper Fast and Brendan Smith iced the game with a pair of empty-netters.
"Right now we dropped two in a row and then come in today and play a good game and find a way to lose this one as well," Matt Martin said. "When losses start piling up that's when the season can turn on you pretty quickly. We just have to get back to what we do best as individuals, as lines and then as a team can all come together."

ISLES DROP FIFTH STRAIGHT:

The Hurricanes took a 2-0 lead, scoring on two of their first three shots on Sunday. Derek Stepan opened the scoring on Carolina's first shot of the game, as Noah Dobson turned the puck over in front of the Islanders' net before Stepan snapped it through Semyon Varlamov at 2:55.
Carolina extended their lead to 2-0 with a power-play goal. Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov used some quick passing to funnel to the puck down low to Seth Jarvis, who made a quick move at the side of the net before roofing the puck at 8:09.
HURRICANES 5, ISLANDERS 2
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Postgame: Trotz
Postgame: Bailey and Johnston
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KINGER'S CALLS
Martin to Johnston
Pulock's Power-Play Goal
The quick strikes nullified the Islanders early chances, as Otto Koivula made a quick cut across the Carolina crease, but was denied by Antti Raanta. Casey Cizikas had another quality look on Raanta early, while Brock Nelson kept-and-shot on a two-on-one that was swallowed up by the Hurricanes goaltender.
Ross Johnston got the Islanders on the board before the end of the period, as Matt Martin's centering feed caromed off the hulking forward and in. With a secondary assist, Casey Cizikas notched his 200th career point.
Ryan Pulock evened the score late in the second period, beating a screened Pytor Kochetkov with a wrist shot for a power-play goal at 15:27. Pulock scored on the first shot on Kochetkov, who came in relief of Antti Raanta, who left the game after appearing to tweak a lower-body injury on a wraparound in the second period. Kochetkov was playing in just his second NHL game after making his debut on Saturday. Pulock's goal was his fifth of the season and snapped a 12-game goal drought for the defenseman.
The Hurricanes retook the lead in the third period, as Max Domi found a soft spot in front of the Islanders net and buried a Teuvo Teravainen feed from below the goal line at 5:40. The Islanders weren't able to climb back into the game after Domi's go-ahead goal, getting outshot by the Hurricanes 15-5 in the final frame.
Carolina iced the game with a pair of empty-netters in the final three minutes. Despite Sunday being the Islanders fifth game in eight days, the veteran team was not using the compressed schedule as an excuse.
"I thought we played them straight up," Head Coach Barry Trotz said. "Today through two periods I thought we were really quite good even though we had one turnover that put us behind the eight ball, I thought we battled back… There are still cracks in our game and in the third period they kicked it up to a pretty good level."

LINEUP CHANGE:

The Islanders made one lineup change for Sunday's game, swapping Anders Lee and Kieffer Bellows. Lee played alongside Otto Koivula and Oliver Wahlstrom, while Bellows played with Brock Nelson and Josh Bailey.

ALUMNI WEEKEND WRAPS UP:

There were a lot of familiar faces at UBS Arena as the Islanders celebrated the team's annual alumni weekend. Sunday's game was the culmination of the weekend's events that included a rooftop party on Friday night, an alumni game on Saturday at Northwell Health Ice Center -
that the Isles won 9-8 in a shootout
- and a dinner atop the Empire State Building on Saturday.

Representatives from every decade of Islanders hockey were in attendance, from first captain Ed Westfall, to dynasty heroes Denis Potvin, John Tonelli and Bobby Nystrom and more recent players like Pierre Turgeon, Mariusz Czerkawski and PA Parenteau.
"It was good to see them," Trotz said of the alumni. "There's a lot of names and faces and I remember they look a little different. We all do. I keep thinking they have long hair, but it was good. It was good for them. I think that is something that should always be done especially with this franchise, which has such a great fan base and such a good tradition."

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders travel to Washington DC for their final road game of the season. Puck drop vs the Capitals goes at 7 p.m.