Game 4 Preview: Islanders at Hurricanes

NEW YORK ISLANDERS AT CAROLINA HURRICANES
GAME 4: CAR LEADS SERIES 3-0
7 PM | PNC ARENA
WATCH: NBCSN | CBC | SN | TVA SPORTS | NHL.TV
LISTEN: 88.7FM WRHU | 103.9FM LI NEWS | RADIO.COM/ISLANDERS
GAME 3 RECAP:
Justin Williams broke a 2-2 tie with 9:45 to play in the third period, propelling the Hurricanes to a 5-2 win over the Islanders in Game 3. Devon Toews and Josh Bailey scored for the Islanders, while Teuvo Teravainen (2G), Justin Faulk and Sebastian Aho scored for the Hurricanes. Curtis McElhinney made 28 saves in the win, while Robin Lehner stopped 33 of 36 shots in the loss. The Hurricanes scored two empty-netters in the win.

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ISLANDERS NOTES:

UPDATE: The Islanders will not hold a morning skate on Friday. Barry Trotz will address the media at 4:45 p.m.
- The Islanders trail the Hurricanes 3-0 in their best-of-seven series and are looking to keep their season alive on Friday night. The Isles have only been swept once in a best-of-seven series (1994) and are one of the four teams in NHL history to successfully rally out of a 3-0 series hole (1975).
"You have to man up a little bit here and realize where you are," Head Coach Barry Trotz said. "Tomorrow is a Game 7. That's how you have to look at it. That's the mindset. "
"There are 23 teams that would love to be playing tomorrow night," Trotz added. "Tomorrow night is the chance to start correcting it the right way and focus on that. It's always a great opportunity, you're still alive and still playing."
- It's a tall task, but rallying out of a 3-0 hole has been done four times in the past, including twice in the last nine years (2014 LA Kings, 2010 Philadelphia Flyers).
"We believe that we can do it. Everybody else it looks like we're done, but in our minds we can do it," Matt Martin said. "We've stuck together all year and defied some of the odds and we're hoping to do that again in this series."
- Cal Clutterbuck was in the lineup for Game 3 after missing practice on Tuesday. Clutterbuck did not practice on Thursday.
- Adam Pelech, Scott Mayfield and Tom Kuhnhackl also did not practice on Thursday. Trotz said that all four players - Clutterbuck included - were just taking maintenance days.
- Trotz hinted at lineup changes for Game 4, but did not reveal any potential decisions.
- Devon Toews scored his first-career playoff goal on Wednesday night, beating Curtis McElhinney with a seeing-eye wrister on the power play.
- The Islanders power play has scored in two straight games and is 2-for-9 (22.2%) in the series.

HURRICANES NOTES:

• Andrei Svechnikov and Jordan Martinook returned to the Hurricanes lineup for Game 3. Svechnikov had been out since Game 3 against Washington, while Martinook had been out since the third period of Game 7 against Washington. Svechnikov hit a post in his return.
  - Petr Mrazek (lower body) took the ice on Thursday morning, but the Hurricanes are not rushing the goalie's recovery. Curtis McElhinney, who has won Games 2 and 3, is the likely starter for Game 4. At 35 years and 343 days old, McElhinney became the oldest goaltender to start a playoff game in NHL history on Wednesday.
  - The Hurricanes recalled defenseman Jake Bean from Charlotte (AHL). Defenseman Haydn Fleury drew into the lineup for Game 3 to replace the injured Trevor van Riemsdyk.
  - The Hurricanes are 0-for-9 on the power play in the series and are 3-for-34 (8.8%) in the postseason.
  - Teuvo Teravainen has three points (2G, 1A) in his last two games and six points (2G, 4A) in his last five games.
  - Jaccob Slavin has three assists in his last two games. The Hurricanes defenseman leads the team in assists (11) and points (11). Slavin is one point shy of the NHL playoff point lead.