3 Takeaways: Isles Beat Canes 5-1 in First Playoff Game at UBS Arena

There was a lot of life in UBS Arena on Friday - and after a rousing 5-1 win in Game Three, there is life in the New York Islanders.
Kyle Palmieri (1PPG, 1A), Matt Martin, Scott Mayfield (ENG) and Anders Lee scored four goals in a 2:18 span in the third period to break open a 1-1 game. As a result, the Islanders are on the board in the series, trailing 2-1 in the best-of-seven set, but armed with an opportunity to even the series on Sunday afternoon at home.

"We're not out of the woods yet," Martin said. "Obviously, it's two-one series in favor of them and we have to hold court at home and then we'll worry about the next game after that."
Casey Cizikas (1G, 1A) rounded out the scoring for the Islanders, while Jesper Fast's shorthanded goal was the only Hurricanes tally.
The offensive outburst made for a memorable night at UBS Arena, which was hosting a playoff game for the first time in the building's history. Both Martin and Cal Clutterbuck, two of the more veteran Islanders, compared the atmosphere to Nassau Coliseum and while its way too early to call UBS Arena Fort Neverlose II, it started off on the right - and loud - note.
"I didn't think anything would be like [Nassau] Coliseum, but it was pretty damn close," Martin said. "Our fans bring so much energy for us, and helped us tilt the ice, especially in that third period when we really needed a push. Just an unbelievable atmosphere - we love playing in front of these fans and in this building."

THIRD PERIOD POWERS ISLES:

Friday night started as a simmer for the Islanders, but worked all the way to a full on boil. They started slow offensively, before exploding for four goals in a 2:18 span - an NHL playoff record - to put an exclamation point on the first playoff game at UBS Arena.
GM 3: ISLES 5, CANES 1
ISLANDERS ARTICLES
Gamecenter
Rapid Recap
Socios.com Postgame Photos
ISLES-CANES VIDEO
Full Highlights
Postgame: Lambert
Postgame: Cizikas and Martin
Postgame: Lee
Postgame: Pulock
KINGER'S CALLS
Cizikas Opens Scoring
Palmieri's Game-Winner
Martin Pads Lead
Mayfield's Empty-Netter
Another One? Why Not.
The first period was tilted in the Hurricanes favor, with Carolina outshooting the Islanders 15-7, and the Isles struggling to get out of their own zone at times. After surviving the first period - and three penalty kills in the first half of the game - the Islanders found their footing, with Cizikas opening the scoring at 12:49 of the second period.
The air was briefly sucked out of the building after a shorthanded goal from Fast tied the score 1-1 heading into the third period, but the Islanders saved their best for last.
It started with shots - as the Isles outshot the Canes 16-7 in the final frame - and graduated to chances. Brock Nelson's slapper was denied by Antti Raanta in the slot and the Hurricanes goaltender later slid across his net to deny an open try for Noah Dobson on a delayed penalty. Eventually, the Islanders broke through, with Kyle Palmieri deflecting a Sebastian Aho point shot past Antti Raanta for a power-play goal at 16:56.
After that, the floodgates opened. Matt Martin followed it up 44 seconds later, snapping a shot short side on Raanta at 16:53, sending UBS Arena into a frenzy. With the goalie pulled, Scott Mayfield scored a long-range empty-netter to effectively end it - while Anders Lee scored his first goal of the playoffs good measure, deflecting a Cizikas shot at 18:27.
"It was one of those games we just had to stick with it," Lee said. "I thought our guys did a phenomenal job of that, especially responding after the second there, but we played our game the whole way through or solid all night."

IDENTITY LINE AND PENALTY KILL LEAD THE WAY:

The Identity Line and the penalty kill led the way for the Islanders on Friday night - and while the Ven diagram between the two units isn't quite a perfect circle, there was plenty of overlap and Casey Cizikas played a large role in both.
The penalty kill kept the Islanders in the game early, killing off three Hurricanes power plays in the first half of the contest, keeping the game scoreless. That drew big cheers from UBS Arena and built some momentum for the Islanders, who were still a little motivated by allowing two power-play goals in Game One.
"That doesn't sit well with us as killers, and we want to be better than that," Cizikas said of the Game One performance. "We've worked on it a lot going into these last two games, so it's definitely a big momentum shift."
Shortly after killing off the third Hurricanes power play, the Identity Line got the Islanders on the board at 12:49. The play started with a dogged forecheck by Cal Clutterbuck on Brent Burns, which led to a weak clearing attempt from Derek Stepan being intercepted by Ryan Pulock, who dished a nifty backhand feed through three Hurricanes to Cizikas, who converted on Antti Raanta.
That ignited the Islanders, who had two AAA chances to take a 2-0 lead in the immediate aftermath, including a Hudson Fasching shot which hit the post and was swept off the line by a diving Seth Jarvis.
After Palmieri made it 2-1 in the third period, Martin sealed it with the 3-1 tally. Cizikas had the primary assist on the fourth, giving the line a hand in three of the five goals. Of course the line did its usual thing, combining for 11 hits (five for Cizikas, three each for Clutterbuck and Martin).
"You need guys to step up every night and those are key guys on our team," Pulock said. "They've been key guys here for a while and obviously they got the job done for us tonight."

ROMANOV RETURNS:

Alexander Romanov returned to the lineup on Friday night, playing his first game of the series and first game since suffering an upper-body injury on April 1.
Romanov looked like his usual physical self against the Hurricanes, not shying away from throwing hits despite missing three weeks. The Russian defenseman finished the night with four hits and two blocked shots in 15:25 of TOI and got a big cheer out of UBS Arena when he dumped Jordan Martinook as a Scott Mayfield hooking penalty expired.
"I liked him," Head Coach Lane Lambert said. "He was pretty poised with the puck and physical. He was strong down low in battles, so that helps us with his strength."

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders and Hurricanes rematch for Game Four on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.