2023-24 Regular Season, Game 69: Hurricanes at New York Islanders (Pregame)

The Carolina Hurricanes completed a Canadian back-to-back over the weekend, picking up wins in Toronto and Ottawa. Their win in Ottawa on Sunday was very close until it wasn't. Dmitry Orlov opened the scoring after the Canes completed an early penalty kill, but Thomas Chabot got it back at the end of the period. Evgeny Kuznetsov scored his second as a Hurricane on the power play, giving the Canes the lead until Tim Stutzle responded less than three minutes later. The turning point in the game came in the final seconds of the second period. As he did in Toronto on Saturday, Seth Jarvis scored with less than 30 seconds left in the middle frame to put the Canes back out front going into the third period. The offense took it from there. Jalen Chatfield joined his defensive partner in the goal column. Orlov scored his second of the night from the point with a clapper off the left post. Jake Guentzel scored his first as a Hurricane on a beautiful pass from Sebastian Aho. Brendan Lemieux kicked the extra point by redirecting a shot from Brent Burns to make it 7-2. That would be the final score as Frederik Andersen picked up the win after making 30 saves. Orlov finished the game with four points, while Aho, Kuznetsov, Guentzel, Chatfield, and Lemieux all finished with multi-point outings.

The Opponent: New York Islanders (29-23-15, 73 Points- 5th in the Metropolitan Division)

Last Meeting- After splitting overtime games in their first two meetings, the Islanders returned to PNC Arena for the final game before Christmas. New York's Sebastian Aho opened the scoring more than halfway through the period before Martin Necas got it back 63 seconds later. The Islanders finished the period strong, with Brock Nelson and Bo Horvat scoring in the final 5:17 of the period to take a 3-1 lead. Carolina's Sebastian Aho evened the battle of the Ahos 59 seconds into the second period on the power play, but Mike Reilly restored New York's two-goal lead late in the period. Jaccob Slavin made it a one-goal game again with an early third-period tally, giving the Canes some early momentum. It was almost immediately ripped away from them after Anders Lee less than two minutes later. Stefan Noesen made it 5-4 with another power-play goal, but that's as close as the Canes would get. New York took the win 5-4, taking both games in Raleigh.

Since We Last Met- With almost three months between meetings, New York went through a coaching change, got themselves into a playoff spot, and fell out of it just as quickly. After beating the Canes in Raleigh, Lane Lambert went out with a whimper, going 3-7-2 before being fired in favor of Hall of Famer Patrick Roy. Things started slowly, but the Islanders started turning things around, starting 10-5-3 with their new coach. On March 10, the Islanders found their way into the second Wild Card spot after winning six straight games. Last week, New York fell back outside of the playoffs after going 0-3-1. Despite having a good save percentage, the Islanders haven't been getting consistent enough goaltending from Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov. New York is 22nd in goals allowed per game, something that feels unfathomable for them. They aren't much stronger offensively, sitting in 20th in goals per game. They have five players who do most of the scoring, led by Mathew Barzal's 69 points and 29 goals each from Bo Horvat and Brock Nelson. 

Stories/Keys of the Game

1. Hope the Offense Doesn't Dry Up

The only real way to follow up a seven-goal performance on Sunday is to completely lay an egg in the next game. At least, that would be the Hurricanes' way. It's not always the case, but there are plenty of examples where this seems to happen. The Canes have scored at least six goals in a game nine times before Sunday night. In just three instances, they won their next game. They have back-to-back six-goal against to start 2024, only to lose 2-1 in a shootout to St. Louis. Recently, they followed up a 6-3 win over Chicago with a 1-0 win over Florida and a 7-2 win over Calgary last Sunday with a 1-0 loss to the Rangers on Tuesday. I think the Canes are more than capable of coming out and putting pucks in the net against the Islanders, but it's not out of the realm of possibility to see them come out flat. 

2. Road Teams Thriving in the Season Series

All three meetings this season have been won by the road team by one goal. The Canes scored four unanswered goals to beat the Islanders 4-3 in overtime in their first meeting. When the Islanders came to Raleigh, they earned a pair of 5-4 wins, taking the first in overtime. Going back to their postseason matchup in the first round, the road team has won six straight games. If this trend continues, it would be a good sign for the Hurricanes. All three games have also been very high scoring, which could also bode well for the Canes.

3. The Islanders Refuse to Go Away

While last week was less than ideal for the Islanders, the playoffs are still attainable for this bunch. With 15 games remaining, the Islanders are one point back of the Red Wings for the second Wild Card spot, holding a game in hand over Detroit. The only problem is there doesn't appear to be much going right for New York at the moment. After picking up so much momentum with a six-game win streak, they've thrown it all away by losing four straight. Their turnaround will have to start in the net. Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov have to be better if this team has any hope of making the playoffs. They still have more than a good chance of sneaking into the playoffs, but something needs to change rapidly for them to do so.