3 Takeaways: Islanders Lose Second Straight with 2-1 Loss to Hurricanes

The New York Islanders dropped their second straight game on Sunday night, falling 2-1 to the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena.
The loss comes one night after a 5-0 blanking at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning, as the Isles came up empty-handed in a back-to-back set against two teams that have given them the fits over the past five years.

"They're obviously playoff teams," Jean-Gabriel Pageau said of the past two opponents. "I thought we came back today and did some good things. We had a good effort and I thought we were with them the whole way. It's a game of bounces and they got their bounce and scored on it. We had our chance too."
Pageau opened for the Islanders, but Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Jordan Martinook scored for the Hurricanes. The loss was the Islanders third in a row against the Hurricanes, dropping the season series 1-3-0. The Isles are 2-7-2 in their last 11 regular season games against the Hurricanes and 2-11-2 if you include the 2019 playoffs.
The Islanders (87 points) are still in the first wild card position in the Eastern Conference, but the Pittsburgh Penguins (86 points) are now one point back after a 4-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. The Penguins have one game in hand on the Isles.
The Florida Panthers (85 points) were idle on Sunday and sit two points back of the Isles with a game in hand.
"We just have to regroup," Ryan Pulock said. "Obviously we weren't able to get any points [on the trip], but there are still four games left and we need to find a way to win and that's what we're looking to do. What has happened here has happened and we have some days to rest and regroup and get ready to go again."

ISLES OFFENSE RUNS DRY ON ROAD TRIP:

The Islanders conclude their three-game road trip with a 1-2-0 record, but only managed to score two goals in regulation/overtime over that span, not counting their shootout goals vs Washington on Wednesday. Sunday's loss marked the third straight game the Islanders were held to one goal or fewer.
HURRICANES 2, ISLANDERS 1
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"Chances for us were few and far between," Head Coach Lane Lambert said when asked if his team did enough to win on Sunday. "But we were one shot away, so was there enough? Possibly."
The lack of offense was hand-in-hand with the Hurricanes volume game, as the Islanders spent long stretches in their own zone, especially through the first two periods, though they managed to outshoot the Hurricanes 8-7 in the third period and had a good look in the final nine seconds.
The Isles couldn't get generate offense on their power plays, going 0-for-2 on the night even conceding a shorthanded breakaway to Carolina's Sebastian Aho during a first period man advantage. Their best chance came late, but Bo Horvat was denied by Frederik Andersen's blocker on a late third period power play.
According to Natural Stat Trick, the Islanders were held to four high-danger chances at five-on-five and five total for the game. The Hurricanes were credited with 13 high-danger chances at five-on-five and 16 overall.

SOROKIN STOPS 33 SHOTS IN BOUNCE-BACK START:

The Islanders went back with Ilya Sorokin for the second night of their back-to-back, giving their goaltender a chance to bounce-back after allowing four goals and getting pulled on Saturday in Tampa.
Sorokin was busy against a volume-shooting Hurricanes team, who outshot the Islanders 35-22 and out-attempted them 67-47.
It was classic Canes, with Carolina out-attempting the Isles 30-10 in the first period, though the Islanders blocked 11 shots in the first period, paying the price and protecting their goalie.
The Hurricanes relentless attack eventually broke through in the second period, as Jesperi Kotkaniemi snuck Carolina's 26th shot of the game through Sorokin at 9:27. The goal came a sequence after Martin Necas - the Hurricanes point leader - whiffed on an open-net one-timer from Sebastian Aho.
Sorokin could only hold off the Hurricanes for so long, as Jordan Martinook gave Carolina a 2-1 lead at 2:31 of the third period, keeping, shooting and scoring on a two-on-one rush.
"We know coming in here that they were going to shoot pucks from everywhere and Sorokin was good," Pageau said. "We did a good job boxing their guys out and limiting their quality chances. Overall, they got one bounce they scored and it made the difference."

AHO, BAILEY BACK IN LINEUP:

Sebastian Aho returned to the lineup after missing six straight games with an upper-body injury. Aho replaced Alex Romanov, who is considered day to day with an upper-body injury, which Lambert confirmed was related to the hit he took in Tampa the night before.
Aho played in his first game since Mar. 18, drawing - and taking - a minor penalty and taking three shots in 16:49 TOI on a pairing with Pulock.
Josh Bailey also drew back into the lineup after missing the last three games - and seven of the last eight - as a healthy scratch. Simon Holmstrom came out of the lineup to accommodate Bailey's re-entry.
Bailey played 13:36 on a line with Pageau and Zach Parise with two shot attempts and a blocked shot.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders have three days off until hosting the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night at UBS Arena. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m.