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Good Morning, Islanders Country.
An unforgetful Friday night was followed by a Sunday afternoon to forget at UBS Arena. There’s no way around it; yesterday was a massive disappointment - and among the most disappointing playoff performances in recent history (at least Game 5 vs. TB was on the road!). Now the Isles are on the verge of letting an opportunity slip away against an undermanned Carolina team that has shown enough to show us why they struggled down the stretch of the regular season and entered the playoffs vulnerable.
The series has been there for the taking, but on Sunday afternoon, it was the Islanders that took opportunities away from themselves. What’s the point of keeping a veteran, playoff-tested team together if they’re going to act like a team that’s never had to play within the lines of a playoff game before? Infuriating.
We’ll take a look at each of the first-period penalties that swayed momentum and give you the player reactions a litter later in the newsletter.
If the Islanders were going to lose this series, it would be for all the reasons we’ve seen play out during the first four games. Their power play, outside of the Kyle Palmieri deflection, looks as inept as ever, and that troubling and neverending trend continued on Sunday.
The Carolina power play was struggling on par with the Isles at the end of the season, only for it to be the difference in the series against a penalty kill that was solid all year and among the best at home this season.
The Islanders difference makers haven’t made a difference.
Ilya Sorokin provided a consensus edge in net but hasn’t been much of a factor in this series other than the Game 2 loss, where he allowed two fluky but avoidable goals. The intrigue of the unknown of what Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal would create when back together has been replaced by the feeling they should be separated for Game 5.
Things can change quickly in a playoff series, but a lot of the same characteristics of this Islanders team that have been holding them back showed up on Sunday, and some new ones too.
Coming up, a closer look at four first-period penalties and Bo Horvat scores a meaningless goal. Plus, a player that shall not be named scores to advance the Isles for the first time since 1993 and a quick turnaround for the MSG broadcast.
Let’s dive in.
🏒 IN SHORT: The Carolina Hurricanes scored two power plays goals and ended an eight-game road losing streak in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 5-2 win over the Islanders at UBS Arena on Sunday afternoon. Seth Jarvis scored twice, and Sebastian Aho had a goal and two assists. Mackenzie MacEachern, playing in his first NHL game of the season, scored a third-period goal, and Antti Raanta made 27 saves. Adam Pelech and Bo Horvat (SHG) scored for the Islanders, and Ilya Sorokin had 24 saves in the loss. Carolina takes a 3-1 series lead with a chance to close it out in Game 5 on Tuesday night back in Raleigh.
KEY MOMENT(s):
🔻 With Zach Parise serving a two-minute minor penalty for goaltender interference at 2:41 of the first period, Ryan Pulock was assessed a minor penalty for boarding Jack Drury at 3:30. On the 5-on-3, Jarvis gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead at 4:05 with a one-timer from the left post off a pass by Noesen.
🔻 Martin Necas extended it to 2-0 at 1:16 of the second period on another power play, scoring glove side off a cross-crease pass by Stefan Noesen.
3 REACTIONS
❶ MOMENTUM SHIFTED: "The 5-on-3 that they had shifted the game a little bit," Head Coach Lane Lambert said. "The Parise penalty, I thought he got pushed in. [Jalen] Chatfield pushed him into the goaltender. Sometimes that happens; next thing you know, we're down 5-on-3, and the momentum shifted."
❷ INCONSISTENCY: “It just seems like it’s been the same around the league… a lot of inconsistency,” Islanders forward Bo Horvat said. “Just what’s being called and what’s not. We can’t sit here and blame the refs the whole time. Nobody else is doing that. We’ve got to find a way to get it done here.”
❸ JAMMED UP: "We got jammed up in the neutral zone tonight," Zach Parise said following the 5-2 loss. "We weren't getting through with any speed. That didn't allow us to get below the goal line with a ton of possession, which what was working [for us] last game."
GameScore Impact Card
⏭ NEXT UP: The Islanders will look to avoid elimination when they travel back to Raleigh for Game 5 against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night.
Face-off is scheduled for 7:00 PM ET
🏆 STANLEY CUP® PLAYOFFS:
📰 NEWS: The momentum of the game - and series shifted due to a series of penalty calls in the first period. The Isles didn’t lose this game because of the referees, but the combination of questionable calls and undisciplined play led to Carolina, for the second time this series, scoring a pair of power-play goals to take a 2-0 lead early in the hockey game.
Zach Parise - Goalie Interference
◾️ The Isles came out as expected and dominated the game in the opening minutes, peppering Antti Raanta with five shots, but then the game turned on an innocuous and questionable goalie interference penalty on Zach Parise.
“I felt like I got pushed in,” Parise said. “Maybe he saw something different but I got to the net, and you guys saw it. Nothing much for me to say about it.”
Ryan Pulock - Boarding
◾️ Pulock, who has been having a great series, and has been more physical than in the regular season was called for boarding on Jack Drury on a play that was originally ruled a major penalty. Drury left the ice and did not return.
"The 5-on-3 that they had shifted the game a little bit," Lane Lambert said in the postgame. "The Parise penalty, I thought he got pushed in. [Jalen] Chatfield pushed him into the goaltender. Sometimes that happens, next thing you know, we're down 5-on-3, and the momentum shifted."
Mathew Barzal - Embellishment
◾️ Less than 30 seconds into an Isles power play, Brent Burns was whistled for a cross-check of Mathew Barzal along the boards. Rather than it be an Isles 5-on-3 to match the opportunity the Canes were given, Barzal was sent to the box and the power play continued without their best playmaker.
“The same type of thing happened to Barzal with Burns but he got an embellishment,” Lambert said. “I don’t understand that but the penalties hurt us.”
The angle of the replay makes it hard to know the extent of the embellishment or if there was any embellishment at all. On the MSG Networks broadcast, Brendan Burke agreed with the call upon first look, saying, “That’s fair. You get him [Burns] for bringing the stick into a cross-check position and Barzal for bringing attention to it.”
Matt Martin - Roughing
◾️ There’s a fine line between being physical and being undisciplined, and Matt Martin crossed that line at the end of the first period when he was called for a roughing penalty against Mackenzie MacEachern. Rather than being down 1-0 and having a chance to seize momentum back early in the second period, the Islanders were on the penalty kill, and Carolina would once again convert.
"The penalty at the end of the first hurt us," Lambert said. "We made a mistake on the kill. Penalties hurt us tonight. I thought we took a couple of undisciplined penalties, no question."
You start off the second period in the box again, it just kills momentum and the rhythm of lines and stuff all over the board,” Bo Horvat said. “We have to find a way to still play hard. We’re doing a lot of good things. We’re still going to play hard, but we have to stay disciplined within that.”
◾️Late in the third period, Bo Horvat scored his first goal and playoff point. Per NHL PR, it was just the third SHG by an Islander in the playoffs since 1994, joining Josh Bailey (Game 1 of 2020 R1) and Kyle Okposo (Game 3 of 2013 CQF).
The goal was also the 1,000th playoff goal in Islander history.
◾️ MAKE IT MEANINGFUL: "I think I can be a lot better, to be honest with you," said Horvat when asked about the state of his play. "I think I'm doing a lot of good things away from the puck ... but at the end of the day I gotta find ways to score big goals and get on the scoresheet. Not in a 5-1 game, 5-2 games, I gotta find ways to make it meaningful.”
📚 SOUND SMART: Per Eric Hornick in The Skinny, the Isles have not scored a first-period goal in the series; going back to 2021, the Isles have not scored a first-period goal in nine straight playoff games. The Isles allowed a 5-on-3 goal in a playoff game for the first time since May 5, 2013, vs. Pittsburgh. The Canes’ Sebastian Aho recorded his 20th career playoff goal to take sole possession of the franchise record; he also holds the record for both assists and points.
🗓 ISLES REWIND: On April 24, 2016, the Islanders' long playoff drought came to an end when John Tavares scored at 10:41 of 2OT to defeat Roberto Luongo and the Florida Panthers 2-1 at Barclays Center and win the best-of-seven series four games to two. Thomas Greiss finished with 41 saves in the team's second straight 2OT game and third OT win of the series.
🎧 Hockey Night in New York: “The Isles find themselves down three games to one with their backs against the wall in their opening round series vs. the Carolina Hurricanes. Former Islanders Head Coach Peter Laviolette joined Sean and Chris to break down how we got here and what the Islanders can do to claw back into the series”
🔗 Islanders struggling to toe line with officials in penalty-riddled series vs. Canes by Joe Pantorno, amNewYork “This isn’t the first gripe the Islanders have had with officiating this series. During their 4-3 overtime loss in Game 2 down Raleigh, the Hurricanes were awarded six power plays while the Islanders had none.”
🔗 Lazerus: Islanders trip over the fine line between physical and foolish by Mark Lazerus, The Athletic “Because that’s what the playoffs are all about — sensing what kind of game it’s going to be and adapting to it. Versatility and adaptability lead to long playoff runs; stubbornness leads to early exits. The Islanders, particularly Martin and Pulock on their two fateful first-period hits, didn’t adapt, and now they’re on the brink of elimination.”
And we leave you with this …. a tip of the cap to Brendan Burke and Butch Goring; both called the Lightning - Maple Leafs Game 3 that went into OT on Saturday night and then flew up from Tampa Bay and were ready to go for Game 4.
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.....FIRSTLY, Burke is FULL of it - Mat absolutely LOSES his balance resulting from that hit, and NEVER should've been penalized; just ASININE & capricious, VINDICTIVE - while not ONE commentator BESIDES me has noted yet what happened BEFORE Martin went after a Carolina player when the period-ending horn sounded: Casey took a VICIOUS Hurricanes stick to the face / mouth which could've EASILY broken or dislocated his jaw (again?) Thus, grounds for MATCHING penalties.....
Concerning Zack's infraction: similarly LUDICROUS to Barzal's, and it's happened TOO many times to Islander players these past few seasons - while there was NO way Pulie warranted a 10-minute or game misconduct - even a major; NOTHING else he could've done given Drury's angle to the end boards - and as for Nelson's MINIMAL contact with Necas, DOESN'T the latter have SOME responsibility to lean just a BIT to HIS right? A really WEAK interference call.....
.....finally, I feel it's least LARGELY on LAMBERT for failing to PULL Ilya after the THIRD goal - or go for a TIME-OUT, when 100% clear Sorokin was RATTLED; unsteady (ALSO again) and put IN Varly - who's consistently demonstrated himself as FAR more emotionally resilient; would've given them a MUCH-better chance to win and, after ALL, it's a LOT easier to score four consecutive goals when you're TIED 1-1 - than DOWN by the SAME amount.....
.....far as MANY of us are concerned I've seen, NO question McCauley's squad was a BIG part of this loss - and it's utterly INEXCUSABLE; an even WORSE travesty than those deciding Game 2.