Critical mistake in Game 3 leaves frustrated Islanders on the brink of elimination

With the New York Islanders facing elimination, goalie Robin Lehner was bitterly disappointed with himself Wednesday night.

After playing brilliantly while allowing just nine goals in the Islanders’ first six playoff games, Lehner made a critical third-period mistake that led to the Carolina Hurricanes’ go-ahead goal in a 5-2 win that put New York down 3-0 in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals.

Lehner tried to play the puck off the boards behind his own net, but Sebastian Aho plucked the puck out of the air with his stick. Aho passed to Justin Williams, whose goal at the 10:15 mark gave Carolina a 3-2 lead.

“Coming in 2-2 into the third period, I thought I was playing well,” Lehner said. “I had a bunch of saves, and it comes down to that play, and I screwed up.”

Mistakes have been rare this season for the Islanders, who were hardly reeling as they came to Raleigh despite losing the first two games of the series on their home ice. A 1-0 overtime decision in Game 1 and a 2-1 defeat in Game 2 played according to the script New York has followed all season, featuring tight checking, stellar defense and excellent goaltending.

Under coach Barry Trotz, who left Washington in the offseason after coaching the Capitals to a Stanley Cup victory, the Islanders made a remarkable defensive turnaround. After surrendering the most goals (296) in the NHL in 2017-18, New York allowed the fewest goals in the league (196) this season. The Islanders continued according to form in the first round of the playoffs as Pittsburgh scored just six goals in a 4-0 New York sweep.

Trotz said Wednesday night that the Islanders are a team that’s been counted out the whole season. If you didn’t know any better, you’d have thought he was talking about the Hurricanes. Trotz said both teams play hard on offense and defense, have high-character players and get contributions from everyone in their lineup.

“The DNA is similar in terms of how they win and how we win,” Trotz said. “We just haven’t been able to find the extra goal to be on the positive side.”

The Hurricanes took a commanding lead in the series by changing the script on the Islanders in Raleigh with almost as many goals in Game 3 as New York allowed in the entire series with the Penguins. Granted, two of them came into an empty net after the Islanders pulled Lehner for the extra attacker. But Carolina’s second and third goals came after uncharacteristic Islander mistakes.

The Islanders let Justin Faulk get behind their defense as he came out of the penalty box for a breakaway goal in the second period that gave Carolina a 2-1 lead. New York tied the score later in the period when Josh Bailey took advantage of a Warren Foegele turnover at the blue line.

But the Islanders couldn’t recover from Lehner’s ill-fated moment behind the net.

“We can’t look back,” Trotz said. “We can’t correct anything that hasn’t gone our way or anything that we’ve done poorly or anything that we’ve done well. It’s gone. And all we can do is just look at the next game, drop the puck next game and go forward from there.”

When the Islanders did look back Wednesday night, they felt conflicted. They have lost two one-goal games in the series and were tied 2-2 midway through the third period of Game 3.

They haven’t played poorly, and their trademark defense has been solid for the majority of the series. Yet they’re on the verge of elimination.

“Obviously we’re in a tough spot,” Bailey said. “We can’t let frustration set in. This series could easily be the other way around. That’s how close our two teams are and how these games have gone.”

This story was originally published May 1, 2019 at 11:36 PM.