3 Takeaways: Islanders Lose 4-1 to Hurricanes

The Islanders fell to the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1 on Tuesday night at UBS Arena as their winless streak reached five games (0-4-1).

Seth Jarvis (2G), Jake Guentzel (ENG, 2A) and Martin Necas scored for the Hurricanes, while and Brady Skjei had two assists in a game that extended the Hurricanes’ winning streak to four games. Kyle Palmieri scored the lone goal for the Islanders at 4:30 of the third period to prevent the Isles from getting shut out. Ilya Sorokin stopped 30 of 33 shots faced, while Pyotr Kochetkov made 30 saves in the sixth consecutive road win for the Hurricanes.

The Islanders close the season series against the Hurricanes with a record of 2-1-1. Their three-game home point streak (2-0-1) also came to an end.

With the loss, the Islanders remain at 73 points in the Eastern Conference, chasing the Detroit Red Wings (76 points) by three points for the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, after Detroit scored a 4-3 comeback win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night. The Washington Capitals (75 points) also stand between the Isles and a playoff berth.

"There's a lot of hockey left, it's obviously dwindling, but the race is tight," Anders Lee said. "We're in that race, we're right there. It's just tough to have these stretches here at this time, no doubt."

ISLES ALLOW THREE IN THE FIRST PERIOD:

The Islanders let the game slip away early in the first period and could not recover, allowing three goals in the opening 20 minutes.

“Playing catch up hockey against a team like this? I’m sorry, but it’s tough to win those games,” Head Coach Patrick Roy said.

Seth Jarvis was tied up with JG Pageau in front of the crease, but was able to collect a Brady Skjei point shot and bury it past Sorokin to open the scoring at 12:48 of the first period. The goal was deflating for the Islanders and spoiled what was a solid first half of the period for the Isles, who outshot the Canes 7-4 before Jarvis’ goal.

The Hurricanes doubled the lead 2:05 later, as Jarvis netted his second goal of the night while Jake Guentzel picked up his second assist. Late in the opening frame, Adam Pelech took an interference penalty, and the Hurricanes’ power play was able to get to work. Martin Necas buried a power-play goal with two seconds left in the frame. 

“In the first eight to 10 minutes we were just fine,” Anders Lee said after the loss. “They sneak one in and pound a couple quickly after. After 20 we were down three and we weren’t able to overcome that hump tonight.”

The damaging first period ended a franchise record where they haven’t allowed a first period goal for 10 straight games. The second period didn’t start much better, as the Islanders were outshot 10-1 halfway through the frame, but Roy remarked his team began to put up more of a fight at the midway point of the matchup.

“On a positive note, I liked the way we played in the last 30 minutes,” Roy said. “We started to play more north, and we started to move the puck faster.”

The Islanders were able to stop the bleeding in the second period, holding a team scoreless in the middle frame for the first time since Feb. 13, ending a 14-game streak where they allowed at least one goal in the second period.

Kyle Palmieri scored at 4:20 into the third period to prevent the Islanders from getting shut out for the seventh time this season to make it 3-1. Guentzel buried an empty net goal to seal the deal for Carolina at 16:22.

ISLES OFFENSE RUNS DRY:

The Islanders’ only goal came at the 44:20 mark of the contest, scoring one or fewer goals for 16^th time this season.

"Things change quickly in this league," Matt Martin said. "We have to find some life and start finding ways to win because it's not good enough."

The Islanders have been outscored 20-6 in their five-game winless skid (0-4-1), immediately following their season-long six-game winning streak where they outscored opponents 30-11.

"If you said to me after our Anaheim [6-1 win] that we were going to get one point out of our next 10, I would say yes I'm surprised,” Roy said. “But this is the league now, you have to be sharp every night and it’s no different for us. We have to find a solution.”

The Isles power play only had one chance in the game, and went 0-for-1, recording one shot.

LINEUP CHANGES:

Hudson Fasching slotted into the lineup for Pierre Engvall, who took line rushes in warmups, but was ultimately a healthy scratch. Fasching played for the first time since Mar. 11 and record two shots on goal in 12:21 TOI.

Fasching started the game on a line with Casey Cizikas and Simon Holmstrom, but Roy switched two of his lines midway through the game in hopes of sparking his team. Holmstrom was swapped with Jean-Gabriel Pageau, as Mathew Barzal slotted to center a line with Anders Lee and Holmstrom.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders head to Detroit to take on the Red Wings on Thursday. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.