Recap: Hurricanes 5, Islanders 4 OT

The New York Islanders and Carolina Hurricanes entered Saturday's game tied in the Eastern Conference Wild Card standings.
The Islanders didn't lose too much ground by picking up a point in the 5-4 overtime loss, but rued missing the second in a tight race.
"It's unfortunate, they're big points that we needed," said JF Berube, who stopped 20 shots in the loss. "We still got one point out of tonight."

It was a bit of hard luck that did the Islanders in during the 3-on-3 overtime period. John Tavares' stick broke on a defensive zone draw, leaving the Islanders essentially shorthanded 3-on-2. Tavares harassed Justin Faulk as best he could, but Faulk found Ron Hainsey at the point for the game-winning one-timer - and Hainsey's second goal of the night.
"It's unfortunate," Tavares said. "I just tried to go on instinct and tried to stand beside somebody and try to take him out of the play and eliminate a point-blank opportunity or a one-timer. It's just a lot of room out there, so they were able to get a good look."
The Islanders also had a 4-on-3 power play for 1:13 to start the overtime, but couldn't push through for the game-winner.
Prior to OT, the Islanders and Hurricanes played a back-and-forth, high-scoring game, with quick responses being an overarching theme.

Anders Lee's first period deflection came 81 seconds after Jaccob Slavin opened the scoring with a slap shot at 9:53. Casey Cizikas put the Islanders up 2-1, forcing a neutral zone turnover and eventually tipping in a Ryan Strome pass at 2:36, but the Hurricanes answered 21 seconds later, with Hainsey's first of the game.

Lee Stempniak's wrister at 4:37 put the Hurricanes up 3-2, but both teams wound up scoring in the final minute of the period, giving Carolina a 4-3 advantage after two. Brock Nelson cleanly beat Ward stick side from the top of the circle with a minute to play in the second, but Teuvo Teravainen scored with 1.1 seconds to play in the period, as Berube lost Brock McGinn's rebound in net front traffic.

The Islanders battled back in the third period to force overtime, making quick work of their second power play of the game, as Tavares won the puck back to Josh Bailey, who hammered a slapper past Ward at 8:33.
"I really feel like we should have won this one," Bailey said. "Same with last night. Tough ones to swallow, but it's not the time of year to dwell on anything. Just have to pull our socks up and get to work."

After picking up one-of-four points over Friday and Saturday, the Islanders return to action on Monday against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.

ISLES HONOR JASON CHIMERA BEFORE GAME: