The Hurricanes scored the fastest two goals in their playoff history and the fastest by any team since the Pittsburgh Penguins scored two in five seconds in Game 3 of the 2018 first round against the Philadelphia Flyers. Seven teams in NHL history have scored a game-tying and go-ahead goal in the final three minutes of a playoff game.
Now things look bleak for the Islanders, who lost to the Hurricanes in six games in the first round last season.
Teams that win the first two games of a best-of-7 series advance 86 percent of the time (348 of 393). The Hurricanes have won eight of the 10 series they have led 2-0.
“Well, it’s a tough loss, no doubt about it, because we had a chance to win that game,” Roy said.
The Islanders took a 3-0 lead early in the second and then allowed five consecutive goals in the final 27 minutes.
They have to win four of five games, including one at PNC Arena, to take this series and advance. That climb starts Thursday in Game 3 at UBS Arena (7:30 pm ET; MSGSN, BSSO, ESPN2, SN360, TVAS).
“We’ll take the two days, use them to our advantage,” Islanders captain Anders Lee said. “Get home, get in front of our fans. Let them give us some more juice. And this thing’s long from over, but just right now, this one hurts the gut.”
It hurts everywhere.
The Islanders left it all on the ice Monday. They blocked 39 shots, they stayed pinned in their ends for long periods, unable to break the pressure that is the hallmark of Carolina’s game. They couldn’t put the pressure on the Hurricanes.
They were surviving, not thriving.
It all changed when Varlamov took a tripping penalty trying to clear his crease. Suddenly the Hurricanes had life, and Teuvo Teravainen gave them a jolt with a power-play goal that made it 3-1 at 13:01 of the second. They dominated the rest of the period but couldn’t put another dent in the Islanders.
“I felt like when we took those penalties, that gave them the momentum and the game shifted big time and for some reason, I mean, we started losing those 1-on-1 battles,” Roy said. “And we didn’t do a very good job along the wall to get those pucks out. And they took advantage of it.”
