The New York Islanders couldn't withstand the storm from the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday night, turning a 3-0 lead into a 5-3 loss in Game 2 of their first-round series at PNC Arena.
As a result, the Islanders won the best-of-seven Eastern Conference first round series, 2-0, and will return to Long Island for Game 3 on Thursday.
Kyle Palmieri, Bo Horvat and Anders Lee (PPG) gave the Isles a 3-0 lead with 3:54 left in the second period, but the Hurricanes scored five unanswered goals in a come-from-behind victory. . Teuvo Teravainen, Seth Jarvis, Sebastian Aho, Jordan Martinuk and Jake Guentzel scored for the Hurricanes, who scored four goals in the third period, including the tying goal and the game-winning goal nine seconds apart.
“This is a tough loss, there's no question about it,” head coach Patrick Roy said. “We had a chance to win that game, but at the same time we have to rebuild the team and prepare for the next game.”
It was a tough loss for the Islanders, but they also blew a three-goal lead in their first matchup with the Hurricanes on November 4th. Although down 2-0 in the series, the Islanders are now 3-11 in franchise history. Including 3-10 when starting the series on the road.
Semyon Varlamov stopped 34 of 38 in the loss, while Frederik Andersen, starting back-to-back games for the first time since returning from a blood clot, stopped 9 of 12 in the win.
