3 Takeaways: Islanders Lose Game 2 to Hurricanes 4-3 in Overtime

Game Two between the New York Islanders and Carolina Hurricanes was not for the faint of heart - and unfortunately for the Islanders, it ended in heartbreak in overtime.
Jesper Fast scored the OT winner at 5:03 of the extra frame, as the Isles fell 4-3 to the Hurricanes. As a result, the Islanders trail their best-of-seven series 2-0.

"That one stings a little bit," Zach Parise said. "Two games we had our chances to win and we didn't, so we have to get that third one."
Kyle Palmieri (1G, 1A), Mathew Barzal and Brock Nelson scored for the Islanders, while Paul Stastny, Stefan Noesen and Jaccob Slavin (1G, 1A) also scored for the Hurricanes.
It was a disappointing result for the Islanders, who led 3-2 in the third period and narrowly lost both games by one goal.
"You look at the good things, we were in the driver's seat, we were in a good position to win the game, but it didn't happen," Parise said. "If you look at the game as a whole we'll leave there saying to ourselves there were a lot of really good things we did, and a couple of fluky goals were the difference."

ISLES SHOW RESOLVE IN OT LOSS

There was a lot of action packed into Wednesday's Game Two.
There was blood. There were post-whistle scrums. There were lead changes. There were a lot of power plays - at least for the Hurricanes. There were fluky goals.
With Carolina already up 1-0 thanks to an early Paul Stastny deflection, the Islanders found themselves in a 2-0 hole thanks to a Sebastian Aho own goal at 7:19 of the second period. It was a whacky play, as the Isles defenseman batted a puck out of the air at the half wall that looked harmless until a bouncing puck caught Sorokin off guard and went in for a power-play goal.
GM 2: HURRICANES 4, ISLANDERS 3 OT
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KINGER'S CALLS
Palmieri Opens Scoring
Barzal's Tying Tally
Nelson Takes the Lead
The own goal could have been a backbreaker for the Islanders, who were creating chances in the first period and had killed off four of five Hurricanes power plays by the midway point of the second, but the veteran squad showed some resilience. Kyle Palmieri put the Islanders on the board at 10:48, sliding a backhander along the ice underneath Raanta. Mathew Barzal got on the board at the end of the second period, beating Raanta clean with a wrister in stride from the slot at 19:39.
The momentum carried into the third period, as Brock Nelson gave the Islanders their first lead of the game and the series at 9:18 mark, keeping, shooting and scoring on a two-on-one rush.
"A lot of compete and a lot of fight," Noah Dobson said. "It's not easy being down two on the road in a building like this and to claw back get it to 2-2. It's unfortunate, overall, we were pretty solid tonight. It's disappointing we didn't get the result."
Up 3-2, the Hurricanes showed some resiliency of their own, as Jaccob Slavin banked a sharp-angled shot off Sorokin's mask and in for the tying goal at 12:19.
The Isles killed off a late penalty in the final 5:34 of the third period to force overtime, where they ultimately fell on Fast's OT winner, a one-timer off a cross-ice feed from Jordan Staal. The goal wasn't without controversy, as Scott Mayfield was clipped by Jordan Martinook's stick on the preceding play, effectively taking the defenseman out of position. Head Coach Lane Lambert and Islanders players didn't comment on the play after the game, but the missed call felt like a raw deal on a night where power plays favored the Hurricanes 6-0.
"I think the main thing is just stick with it," Dobson said. "Regroup here, take the positives and get back home and try and win Game Three."

ISLES PENALTY KILL SHOWS IMPROVEMENT IN GAME TWO:

After going 2-for-4 on the penalty kill in Game One, the Islanders stepped up their game in Game Two, going 5-for-6.
The six penalties were inflated by two separate double-minors for high-sticking, but on the whole, the penalty kill looked much stronger than Monday.
The penalty kill negated the first double-minor (Casey Cizikas' stick caught Sebastian Aho during a double-team hit with Cal Clutterbuck) by drawing a penalty and killed off Matt Martin's interference minor to start the second. The penalty kill was aggressive on the second double-minor, even pinning the Hurricanes in their own zone after an icing, but the quality kill ended in a fluke play on the Aho own goal.
The shorthanded unit came up with their biggest kill of the night with the game tied 3-3 with 5:34 to play. Carolina had three shots during a furious push, but Sorokin and the penalty kill held firm.
The five penalties in the first 35 minutes made it hard for the Islanders to establish sustained offensive pressure, as reflected in the 22-16 shot total through two periods, but once the Isles stayed out of the box, they were able to get their game in order.
"We played hard. Did a lot of good things. Competed. The penalty kill was good and I thought it was a good effort," Lambert said.

TENSIONS RISING IN THE SERIES:

While Game One was hard-fought, there wasn't much actual fighting or post-whistle nastiness, but that all changed in Game Two.
Cal Clutterbuck and Casey Cizikas kicked things off by sandwiching Sebastian Aho deep in the Hurricanes zone, while Matt Martin came close to dropping the gloves with Jalen Chatfield in front of the Hurricanes bench.
The first flashpoint came at the end of the first period, when Martin hit Jordan Staal from behind with 15 seconds to play. That set off a frantic sequence to end the period, as well as a brouhaha in the Islanders crease. Martin was booed for the rest of the game by the crowd at PNC Arena.
Much like Monday, the Islanders were the more physical team again on Wednesday, outhitting the Hurricanes 54-28. Ryan Pulock and Cal Clutterbuck led the way with seven hits each.
The testy tilt yielded one casualty, as Teuvo Teravainen left the game in the third period with a broken hand and did not return. Hurricanes Head Coach Rod Brind'amour confirmed that the forward will miss the rest of the series and will undergo surgery on Thursday.
As the series shifts back to Long Island, the intensity should only continue to ramp up.
"Every is going to be heated," Nelson said. "Tight checking, they play hard, we play hard, so emotions are running high at this time of year."

NEXT GAME:

The series shifts back to Long Island for the first-ever playoff game at UBS Arena. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. on Friday.