Regular Season, Game 80: Hurricanes at New York Islanders

Yesterday's game had all the makings of being a very bad one. The Canes had a rookie goalie in the net making his NHL debut. They were playing a team that isn't going to make the playoffs. They were playing the first of three games in four days. Things were looking very bleak for the Canes with five minutes left in the third period. Despite an excellent effort from Pyotr Kochetkov, the offense was doing nothing in front of him to generate anything dangerous. The difference in the game against New Jersey yesterday was one good bounce. Jesper Fast forced Dougie Hamilton to turn it over along the boards and it went straight to Brady Skjei. Skjei throws it towards Jon Gillies, it hits a defender in front of the net, and it goes five-hole on Gillies to get the Canes on the board with under five to go. Shortly thereafter, Tony DeAngelo threw one onto the net after Kochetkov made his way to the bench and Nino Niederreiter cleaned up the rebound to tie things up with less than two minutes left. All of a sudden, the Canes had found new life. They'd clawed back from 2-0 down in the final five minutes to earn at least one point. In overtime, Sebastian Aho, similarly to Fast earlier, forced a turnover and the puck went straight to DeAngelo. He waited, found Seth Jarvis, and the rookie beat a sprawling Gillies to secure the second point and a huge comeback win for the Canes. Couple this win with a Rangers loss in regulation yesterday and the Canes are two points up with three games remaining. Since the Rangers don't play until the Canes go to Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, they'll have a game in hand when they meet. That makes today's game even more important. 

After not playing since Opening Night, the Islanders returned to Raleigh just over two weeks ago for a Friday night tilt. This was a 60-minute goaltending battle between Ilya Sorokin and Frederik Andersen. Jean-Gabriel Pageau opened the scoring midway through the second period and his goal would stand as the lone marker until under a minute remaining in the third period. With the goalie pulled, Vincent Trocheck stuffed home a rebound past Sorokin with about 57 seconds left to tie the game and PNC Arena went crazy. They were so close to losing in regulation, but now they had a chance to get a point out of it and force overtime. The Islanders, specifically Kyle Palmieri, had different ideas. With under 15 seconds left, Palmieri won a race around the net and fired a shot past Andersen to give New York their one-goal advantage back as they'd upset the Canes to hand them a rare home loss. It was heart-breaking after the elation of Trocheck scoring to tie it. The Canes have a few lineup changes for today's game. Trocheck is taking a rest day, meaning Derek Stepan will be back in and Max Domi will center the second line. Ethan Bear will also draw back into the lineup for Ian Cole. Antti Raanta will start today for the Canes in the second game of the back-to-back.

Since beating the Canes in Raleigh, it has been tough sledding for the Islanders. They've only won twice (2-5-1) and they've allowed four or more goals in six of those games. They're also playing the second half of a back-to-back, losing to Buffalo yesterday afternoon 5-3 on the road. They played a solid first period, swapping goals with the Sabres as Matthew Barzal tied it late in the period to make it 1-1 after 20. The difference in the game was the second period. The Sabres scored three times to take a 4-1 before things went nuts in the third. Noah Dobson and Kiefer Bellows scored less than two minutes apart to bring the Islanders back within one, but Jeff Skinner iced it just after the midway point to restore a two-goal lead. With just over five minutes left, there was a disagreement between the two sides that led to misconduct penalties for Skinner, Ross Johnston, and Matt Martin, ending their afternoons early. The Sabres would hold on to win the game 5-3, handing the Islanders their fourth-straight loss. Ilya Sorokin started and allowed all five goals, meaning we'll see Semyon Varlamov for the first time this season. These are two crucial points for the Canes since they could force the Rangers into a must-win game on Tuesday night. I'm sure the team is still riding the high from the win yesterday, but they can't look past this Islanders team today. 

1st Period

Scoring

(CAR) 2:25- Derek Stepan (9) (unassisted)

(CAR) 8:09- Seth Jarvis (17) PP (assisted by Andrei Svechnikov (39) & Sebastian Aho (43))

(NYI) 18:25- Ross Johnston (2) (assisted by Matt Martin (4) & Casey Cizikas (6))

Thoughts

Despite the score, I don't think this was a great period from the Canes, especially the defense. Antti Raanta had to bail them out several times very early. Derek Stepan is making the most of his return to the lineup. He caused a turnover from Dobson, then slammed it five-hole on Varlamov to open the scoring. The Canes then drew an early power play and Seth Jarvis capitalized to make it 2-0. I still felt the Islanders were the better team for most of the period. I think the incident between Chara and the entire second line was a nice catalyst for them. I don't know how Chara avoided more than two minutes considering he took extra shots at both Svechnikov and Martinook after the whistle. New York got one back late in the period from Ross Johnston to give them some life and gain something from a decent start for them. Pesce had a wide-open net to try and regain the two-goal lead but missed wide by a lot. The Canes need to wake up a little bit more in the defensive zone. Too many good chances on Raanta might be too much to handle.

2nd Period

Scoring

(NYI) 15:27- Ryan Pulock (4) PP (assisted by Josh Bailey (28) & Kiefer Bellows (12))

Thoughts

We've got a brand new game and UBS Arena has life as the Islanders tie the game on the power play late in the period. That's not the highlight of the period though. Antti Raanta, after making a great save with his right pad, has exited the game with a lower-body injury, paving the way for Pyotr Kochetkov to make his first relief appearance in the NHL. He was in the net when Pulock tied the game on a goal similar to the power play goal allowed yesterday with a nice screen in front. It's a tough situation to come into, but he'll need to be just as clutch in the third period as he was yesterday. The offense disappeared late in the period for the Canes. They didn't spend much time in front of Varlamov and when they did, it never felt dangerous. The Islanders have played their way back into this one. Now the Canes need to find a way to get the rookie his second win. 

3rd Period

Scoring

(CAR) 5:40- Max Domi (11) (assisted by Teuvo Teravainen (43) & Jordan Martinook (9))

(CAR) 17:53- Jesper Fast (14) EN (assisted by Jordan Staal (19))

(CAR) 18:50- Brendan Smith (4) EN (unassisted))

Thoughts

The score is going to look a little inflated with the two empty-net goals late, but the Canes really did dominate this third period in front of Kochetkov. The rookie came in and held the fort, stopping all five shots that he faced in the period, but his defense had a lot to do with that. The offense made sure to play with a lead the entire period as Max Domi scored just under six minutes into the period off a great feed below the goal line from Teravainen, his second goal as a Hurricane. Add empty-net goals under a minute apart from Jesper Fast and Brendan Smith and the Canes will finish their first trip to UBS Arena with a win and a chance to clinch the division against the Rangers on Tuesday night. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Seth Jarvis (Goal)

Since mid-March, he hasn't been playing like he's a rookie. Jarvis added a power play goal in the first period, jumping up to the first unit with Trocheck not playing today, pushing his goal streak to three games. It's a shame the rookie class this year is stacked because he's been phenomenal this season. He'll be a key part of the postseason run this season. 

Second Star- Antti Raanta (17 Saves on 18 Shots)

His injury late in the second period is going to put the team in a tough spot with their first two goalies hurt, but what he did before leaving the game was special. The team in front of him came out flat to open the game and he made some huge saves to keep the Islanders off the board. Even the play that looked like the cause of his injury was a huge save at the time. I'm hoping it's not a big injury for him.

First Star- Max Domi (Goal)

While I don't think this was his best game with the team, it was one of his most noticeable. The game-winning goal doesn't hurt, but he was making plays before that. He stepped up for Svechnikov against Chara at one point and was making some crisp passes all over the ice. The goal was the icing on the cake and it helps him pass his father with the 101st goal of his career. 

Final Thoughts

Today's game was a perfect example of the type of game the Canes are known for. They took a tight game, crushed the opposition with their defense, and found ways to score goals to come out with two points. Jesper Fast broke his career-high in goals with his 14th of the season. Jordan Staal moved into a tie for fifth in franchise history in points with his assist on Fast's goal. It took the entire lineup, but the Canes earned a huge two points to push the division lead to four points with the Rangers now having a game in hand. Tuesday looms with the division title on the ice and the team will likely be without their top two goalies. This means that Pyotr Kochetkov will probably be the starter against the Rangers in Madison Square Garden. This is going to be the biggest test of his North American career so far. It only takes one point to get the job done, but it'd be even sweeter to get the win to finish the job. That doesn't mean a loss would make it impossible to win the division, but it would take some stress off before the season finale against New Jersey.