Islanders rue fluke goals in Game 2 loss to Hurricanes

RALEIGH, N.C. -- From the bizarre to the unfortunate, the New York Islanders had to pick themselves up a few times after strange bounces went against them in their 4-3 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference First Round at PNC Arena on Wednesday.

So, they defiantly vowed to do the same after Jesper Fast's goal 5:03 into overtime put them in a 2-0 hole in the best-of-7 series.
"That one stings a little bit," forward Zach Parise said. "But you know what? Two games, we had our chances to win. We didn't. Now, get that third one."
Heading home for Game 3 on Friday (7 p.m. ET; TBS, SN1, TVAS2, MSGSN, BSSO) gives the Islanders some hope that they will be able to rebound and push their way back into the series, as the battled back from a 2-0 deficit in the second period Wednesday. It will be the Islanders' first Stanley Cup Playoff game at UBS Arena, their building they moved into last season after playing their final game at Nassau Coliseum during the 2021 playoffs.
"It's going to be great," defenseman Noah Dobson said. "You saw the atmosphere here. I'm sure our fans are going to be revved up, ready to go. It's going to be loud back at UBS. So, I'm sure they're excited. It's going to give us some energy and, hopefully, we can build off it."
RELATED: [Complete Hurricanes vs. Islanders series coverage]
Some of what happened in Game 2 required multiple looks at the video to determine exactly what happened. For example, Stefan Noesen's power-play goal that increased Carolina's lead to 2-0 at 7:19 of the second period.
The Islanders gave the Hurricanes almost nothing during a high-sticking double-minor on defenseman Samuel Bolduc at 4:01 until Noesen tried to send the puck in deep from the right point. New York defenseman Sebastian Aho swatted the puck out of mid-air with his stick, sending it toward the net instead of behind it.
The puck bounced in front of goalie Ilya Sorokin, jumped to the left and went in over his pad.
"It was a goal you don't see very often," coach Lane Lambert said.

The Islanders shook it off quickly. Kyle Palmieri cut the Hurricanes lead to 2-1 at 10:48 when he circled behind the net with the puck and curled out into the right circle before sliding a backhand past goalie Antti Raanta's right pad.
Then, Mathew Barzal, appearing more comfortable in his second game back after missing the final 23 regular-season games with a lower-body injury, scored at 19:39 to tie it 2-2. New York defenseman Adam Pelech intercepted Brady Skjei's pass in the neutral zone and pushed the puck ahead to Barzal, who raced over the Carolina blue line and wristed a shot from between the circles past Raanta's glove.
"I think we've done that a number of times this year where [we] bend, don't break," forward Brock Nelson said. "That was definitely a big [first] goal there and then a huge goal by 'Barzy' to give us a chance."
When Nelson also beat Raanta to the glove side from the left circle to give the Islanders a 3-2 lead 9:18 into the third period, they were in position to even the series.
But their night of bounces wasn't over. Jaccob Slavin retied it for Carolina at 3-3 at 12:19 when he banked a shot from below the goal line on the left side off the side of Sorokin's mask.

The Islanders had chances after that to retake the lead, in regulation and early in overtime, but couldn't put a fourth goal past Raanta.
Then, Fast took a cross-ice pass from Jordan Staal and beat Sorokin from the right circle to send the Islanders home shaking their heads.
"I thought we made more plays tonight," Lambert said. "I thought we played fast. I thought it was a good hockey game. It was a hard-fought hockey game by two good teams, a game where we were physical and we continued to hit and we continued to invest, so that's what we have to do. We just have to be ready for the next one."
As in their 2-1 loss in Game 1 on Monday, the Islanders have positives to build on. That's what gives them hope they can overcome this night of odd bounces.
"You look at the good things," Parise said. "We were in the driver's seat. We were in a good position to win the game. It didn't happen, but I think if you look at the game as a whole, we'll leave there saying to ourselves that there's a lot of really good things that we did and just a couple fluky goals. That's the difference."