2024-25 Regular Season, Game 27 Preview: Hurricanes at New York Islanders

The Carolina Hurricanes snapped a three-game skid on Thursday night with the Colorado Avalanche in town. They fell behind midway through the first period after Artturi Lehkonen buried a breakaway but responded with three unanswered goals over the next period and a half. Eric Robinson knotted the game by deflecting Brent Burns' shot, earning Martin Necas his 40th point with the secondary helper. Early in the second period, Sebastian Aho connected with Seth Jarvis for a beautiful power-play tally to give the Canes their first lead of the night. Less than three minutes later, Jack Roslovic found some daylight under Scott Wedgewood's glove to extend the lead to two. The 3-1 lead held for most of the night until Valeri Nichushkin snuck a shot past Pyotr Kochetkov with just over five minutes left to cause some concern. Necas scored on the power play to restore the two-goal advantage, only for Nichushkin to score again 24 seconds later. Andrei Svechnikov, who'd recorded three assists to this point, finished the Avalanche by scoring into the empty net to complete his first career four-point game in a 5-3 victory. Necas and Aho also had multi-point nights as the Canes returned to their winning ways.

The Opponent: New York Islanders (9-11-7, 25 Points, 8th in the Metropolitan Division)

What has happened to the New York Islanders this season? I guess it isn't too surprising since they decided to stay the course and made very few changes during the offseason. After finishing third in the division a year ago, they are tied for last in points in the Metro and struggling to generate any offense. They have made excellent use of the "loser point," losing seven games in extra time, including five over the last month. They're in the Bottom 5 in the league in goals, with three players (Anders Lee- 11, Kyle Palmieri- 10, and Brock Nelson- 10) accounting for nearly half of their goals. After a 70-point campaign, Noah Dobson has 12 points this season. Pierre Engvall is set to be the healthy scratch tonight. Their power play is the second-worst in the league. Their penalty kill is dead last. Ilya Sorkin and Semyon Varlamov haven't been the dynamic pair they have been in recent seasons. Injuries haven't helped matters, either. They'll be playing without Mathew Barzal, Anthony Duclair, Adam Pelech, or Mike Reilly, and Varlamov might not be available either. They are a struggling team looking for answers. If the Canes are careful, they might end up on the wrong side of a lesson tonight. 

Last Season's Meetings: The Hurricanes and Islanders split their four-game set during the regular season, including three very entertaining contests. They first met in early November on Long Island, and it looked like New York was going to run away with it. Through 28 minutes, the Islanders held a 3-0 lead, but the Canes worked their way back into it. Jalen Chatfield scored shortly after New York made it a three-goal game. Dmitry Orlov scored his first as a Hurricane just past the midway point in the third period and Jesperi Kotkaniemi tied it on the power play to force overtime. Sebastian Aho would play the hero, scoring early in overtime to help the Canes complete the comeback and take the second point. 

Chatfield opened the scoring during New York's visit to Raleigh at the end of the month, but the Canes found themselves on the wrong side of a 3-2 game after 40 minutes. Jack Drury scored early in the third period to tie it, only for Kyle Palmieri to break the tie on the power play a few minutes later. This game required more Aho heroics, squeaking a shot through Semyon Varlamov with less than three seconds left to force another overtime. This time, Mathew Barzal would finish it, picking up his fourth point of the night by scoring the game-winner.

New York got the better of the Hurricanes in Raleigh again when they visited before Christmas. The Canes did everything they could to stay in the game after trailing 3-1 after 20 minutes. Every time the Canes scored; the Islanders had an answer. Anders Lee finished the game with three points as New York held on for a 5-4 victory to win both games in Raleigh. The only way for the Canes to respond would be to do the same on Long Island late in the year. Seth Jarvis scored twice in the first period and Martin Necas scored in the dying seconds on the power play to complete a three-goal frame and demoralize the Islanders. Palmieri scored early in the third period to break the shutout, but Jake Guentzel scored into the empty net to ice a 4-1 win for the Canes. 

For the second straight season, the Hurricanes and the Islanders met in the first round of the playoffs. While the final count might've indicated a one-sided series, this was tightly contested all the way through. The Canes won both games at home to begin the series, including a wild second game that required them to overcome a 3-0 deficit, similar to their first meeting of the regular season. Sebastian Aho tied the game on the backdoor with 2:15 left and Jordan Martinook scored off the ensuing draw nine seconds later to win the game. The Canes added a tight 3-2 win on Long Island in Game 3, but the Islanders stayed alive by winning Game 4 in 2OT to send the series back to Raleigh. Game 5 looked like all Carolina early, leading 3-1 after Evgeny Kuznetsov buried a penalty shot. However, New York knotted the game at three after two periods. Jack Drury buried his first playoff goal early in the third and Stefan Noesen scored eight seconds later to stun the Islanders. Seth Jarvis put the series away late as the Canes won in five games.

Stories of the Night

1. Bad Blood

It feels like several combustible elements could explode under the right circumstances tonight. These two have met in consecutive seasons in the playoffs, with the Hurricanes gaining the edge both times to eliminate the Islanders. Meanwhile, New York is struggling this season in every conceivable fashion. Add goons like Matt Martin still roaming the ice and there's a chance this one gets ugly. It only takes one spark to ignite beef between bitter combatants, especially after how last season's series went. I might be blowing this out of proportion. Then again, I could be on to something.

2. Battered and Bruised, the Islanders Can Still be Dangerous

New York is struggling to find offense right now. With several key producers out or failing to line up to their contracts, the burden has fallen on a handful of players. Unfortunately for the Canes, that handful has historically played well against them. Brock Nelson, Anders Lee, Bo Horvat, and Kyle Palmieri have each had moments against the Canes when they looked unstoppable. All it would take is for one or two of them to get hot at the right time tonight to prevent the Canes from ending the week on a good note.

3. Copy and Paste the First 40 Minutes

There's no denying that the Hurricanes ran the show against the Avalanche for the better part of the night before things got a little interesting down the stretch. Outside of the potentially dangerous breakaways, the Hurricanes didn't allow much to the Colorado offense. It's an effort we've grown accustomed to from the Canes under Rod Brind'Amour. There's no reason to change the mindset against a team struggling to find their way. If the Canes can repeat their first two periods against the Islanders, this should be a smooth ride.