Hurricanes’ vaunted penalty kill shows first crack against lowly Islanders power play
The Carolina Hurricanes were perfect on their penalty killing — until they weren’t.
And now, because they’re no longer perfect, the New York Islanders have life.
With 3:52 left in Game 3 of the playoffs Friday at UBS Arena, the Hurricanes were one second away from killing off a fifth straight penalty in what was a 1-1 game. A second later, the Isles’ Kyle Palmieri tipped a shot by defenseman Sebastian Aho past goalie Antti Raanta, and it was 2-1.
Just like that, the vibe of the first-round Stanley Cup playoff series changed. New York’s Matt Martin scored a third goal 44 seconds later and the Islanders took it from there for a 5-1 win, sending their fans home happy and with no complaints — or fewer complaints — about the referees.
The Canes were 4-for-4 on the kill in winning Game 1. The Islanders did not have a power play in Game 2 — much to their disdain — as the Canes won in overtime. Then, Carolina killed off the first four penalties Friday against a team that was 30th in the NHL on the power play in the regular season.
At that point, the Canes held the edge in special teams play in the game. Jesper Fast scored shorthanded in the second period, again beating goalie Ilya Sorokin off the rush as Jordan Staal again set Fast up, just as he did on the overtime winner Wednesday in Game 2.
It was a 1-1 game in the third, the minutes ticking down. Anybody’s game. Would the Canes’ futility in playoff road games end after their dismal 0-6 road showing last year?
“It’s 1-1, five minutes left and then they floated one in there and tipped it in,” Canes forward Jordan Martinook said. “Then we’re trying to push and we give up the one the next shift. Then we’re chasing.
“In the first, we were really good and then penalties kind of started taking over and getting everybody out of rhythm. Obviously, discipline is so key this time of year. I felt like our kill was really good but that one floater … that’s the way it goes sometimes.”
The Hurricanes, second in the NHL in penalty killing this season, again did a lot of good work in Game 3, hustling, battling for the puck, getting in shooting lanes, clearing the zone. Jaccob Slavin, Brent Burns, Brett Pesce and others were called on to play shorthanded and got the job done until the late tip.
Pesce said this week that good penalty killing is as much having the right mindset as good execution, and the Canes seemed to have both.
Fast’s score came soon after the Canes Sebastian Aho broke his stick on a faceoff but later managed to kick the puck out of the zone.
“You feel kind of useless there without the stick and I kind of got a lucky break there,” Aho said. “And unreal execution by ‘Jordo’ and ‘Quickie’ after that.”
The late power-play goal stung the Canes. Palmieiri got inside position on Burns in front of Raanta for the tip.
“It was really a floater going a couple of feet wide and just a great tip in front,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “That was unfortunate but you can’t take the penalties.”
Allowing the late power-play score was not the Canes’ only issue. Their 5-on-5 play continues to be a concern.In a tight game, they were 0-4 on their power play and managed just three shots.
“The power play cost us the game, that was clear,” Brind’Amour said. “We needed to do more there to at least give us some life more than anything. You can’t just rely on killing penalties. That’s not going to work.
“We needed more on the power play, clearly. They did a nice job. That was the difference in the game.”
With the Islanders in a 2-0 hole in the series and playing their first-ever playoff game at UBS Arena, the Canes expected to encounter a team bent on winning, intent on making it a series.
That Islanders were just that. Now it’s 2-1.
“You think they’re going to roll over and die?” Martinook said. “No, that’s not going to happen.
“Obviously we’re trying to win every game and we’ll try to get the next one. Learn some things from tonight and come back Sunday.”
