EAST MEADOW, N.Y -- The New York Islanders know what is on the line for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference First Round against the Carolina Hurricanes at UBS Arena.
They are ready to face it.
"It's a one-game mentality," Islanders forward Casey Cizikas said.
Though the odds aren't great for the Islanders to win four of the next five games to advance, they are almost non-existent if they lose Thursday.
In the history of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, 206 teams have fallen behind 3-0 in a best-of-7 series; four have come back to win it.
Forward Anders Lee is excited to put a 5-3 loss in Game 2 on Monday, when the Islanders led 3-0, in the past. It was the first time in Islanders playoff history that they lost a game after holding a three-goal lead.
"Our fans really bring it in the playoffs," he said.
New York will turn to goalie Ilya Sorokin after Semyon Varlamov stared each of the first two games.
"We knew we would have to use both goalies," Islanders coach Patrick Roy said Wednesday. "They are both sharp and [Varlamov] faced a lot of shots in the last game, so it would be good to have someone fresh tomorrow."
Roy also has been stressing for the past 48 hours that his team is not in trouble, falling back on the adage that a team is not in trouble in a series until it loses a home game.
"We knew when the series started, we had to be good at home, we have to win our home games," he said. "That's how we have to give ourselves a chance in this series. All we have to do is win one game in their building if we win all our [home] games. That's the positive side to me and we need to be ready for them tomorrow and that's all."
The Hurricanes were in this same position last season, up 2-0 on the Islanders in the first round before losing Game 3 on the road.
"I think road or home, any time a team gets going, you want to make sure you limit that as much as possible," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said Wednesday. "Obviously when you have the home ice, the crowd gets going, there's a little bit of that but I think just generally if the momentum is going the other way, it means you're not playing your game, so that's what you have to avoid."
Here are 3 keys for Game 3:
1. Breaking away
The Islanders could not get out of their defensive zone in the final 40 minutes of Game 2, turning a 3-0 lead into a 5-3 loss.
Roy said that the Hurricanes had close to eight minutes of offensive-zone time, which is way too much.
The Hurricanes did it with an aggressive and effective forecheck, pinning the Islanders back by winning 1-on-1 battles and turning over pucks.
The Islanders practiced longer than usual Wednesday and spent much of their time on their transition game, breaking out of their own zone while under duress.
"I think our guys know," Roy said. "I mean, we could be better on our breakouts; we could be better on our regroups. We could, you know, be better offensively. We have to get back to the things we did really good in Game 1."
2. Fitting in
The Hurricanes have one of the best defensive units in the League, but it took a hit in Game 2 when Brett Pesce left with an injury.
Pesce, who averaged 20:17 of ice time in 70 regular-season games, is week to week and it's unlikely he will return in the series.
Tony DeAngelo will replace Pesce in Game 3. DeAngelo averaged 14:20 per game in 31 regular-season games. He was in the lineup for the final three games of the regular season but was a scratch for the previous three weeks.
DeAngelo will play with Brady Skjei on the second pair and is savoring his opportunity.
"I'm not worried about high-pressure situations, to be honest with you," DeAngelo said Wednesday. "You've just got to go out there and play. It's a little bit different -- a little less risk to each person's game. But for the most part, I'm going to go out and play the way I usually do. Hopefully it gets some results."
3. Entry pass
The Islanders managed 12 shots on goal in Game 2, five after the first period. They could not find a way to sustain pressure in the attacking zone. On the rare occasion they gained the attacking blue line, they were smothered and turned away.
They had 28 total shots (eight blocked, eight missed), compared to 110 for the Hurricanes (39 on goal, 39 blocked, 27 missed), and will have to be better with their zone entries and smarter with their decisions to dump and chase.
"Sometimes you have to play the game that has to be played," Roy said. "If they gap up and they hold the blue line, you have no choice. That's a team that loves to squeeze at the blue, so you have No choice but to place those pucks. We're going to have to be good and go after it."
Hurricanes projected lineup
Jake Guentzel -- Sebastian Aho -- Andrei Svechnikov
Teuvo Teravainen -- Jesperi Kotkaniemi -- Martin Necas
Jordan Martinook -- Jordan Staal -- Seth Jarvis
Jack Drury -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Stefan Noesen
Jaccob Slavin -- Brent Burns
Brady Skjei -- Tony DeAngelo
Dmitry Orlov -- Jalen Chatfield
Frederik Andersen
Pyotr Kochetkov
Scratched: Jackson Blake, Brendan Lemieux, Scott Morrow, Bradly Nadeau, Spencer Martin
Injured: Jesper Fast (upper body), Brett Pesce (lower body)
Islanders projected lineup
Casey Cizikas -- Bo Horvat -- Mathew Barzal
Hudson Fasching -- Brock Nelson -- Kyle Palmieri
Anders Lee -- Jean-Gabriel Pageau -- Pierre Engvall
Matt Martin -- Kyle MacLean -- Cal Clutterbuck
Alexander Romanov -- Noah Dobson
Adam Pelech -- Ryan Pulock
Mike Reilly -- Robert Bortuzzo
Ilya Sorokin
Semyon Varlamov
Scratched: Simon Holmstrom, Sebastian Aho, Samuel Bolduc, Oliver Wahlstrom
Injured: None
Status report
Martin, who missed practice Wednesday because of maintenance, took part in an optional morning skate Thursday and is a game-time decision.
