RALEIGH, N.C. -- Jean-Gabriel Pageau is expected to return to the lineup for the New York Islanders in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference First Round against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena on Monday.
The Islanders center took part in the morning skate and if he has no setbacks before the game, he should play, coach Patrick Roy said. Pageau missed Game 1 with a lower-body injury.
Pageau will center the third line with Anders Lee and Pierre Engvall in place of Hudson Fasching, who played 14:18 in Game 1, a 3-1 loss Saturday. He had 33 points (11 goals, 22 assists) in 82 games this season, but sustained a lower-body injury in a 5-4 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on April 17.
"He is a guy that kills penalties, can play on the power play, has a really solid 200-foot game and can play against a top line," Roy said.
Simon Holmstrom moves from fourth-line center to second-line left wing.
"I liked the game of Simon against these guys," Roy said. "I mean, in Game 1, I thought he played well. He was heavy on the puck."
The Hurricanes are expected to go with the same lineup from the opener.
Carolina is 9-6 (.600) when taking a 1-0 lead in a best-of-7 Stanley Cup Playoff series, 8-2 (.800) when starting a series at home.
Here are 3 keys for Game 2:
1. Traffic jam
Carolina goalie Frederik Andersen was one of the stars of Game 1. He made 33 saves, including two consecutive stops of defenseman Noah Dobson early in the third period that changed the momentum of the game.
The Islanders believe they made it a bit easy for Andersen, allowing him to see most of the shots they attempted. They point to their goal, from Kyle MacLean in the first period, as the blueprint of what they have to do. Lee was planted in the low slot and tipped a wrist shot to send it bouncing onto the ice where it flummoxed Andersen, who bobbled it. MacLean won the race to the loose puck and slammed it home.
"We need traffic in front of the net," Roy said. "I mean, if we do a good job going in front, like for example the goal we scored, it was a nice wrister at the net. It was deflected and then we picked up the rebound."
More plays like that, the Islanders say, will make Andersen's job infinitely harder.
2. Check, please
The forecheck could be the tipping point of Game 2 and the series.
Each team values getting in hard on pucks in the offensive zone, punishing the defense, slowing the transition game for the opponent and hopefully create turnovers. There were stretches in Game 1 when each team dominated on the back of its forecheck, allowing for the cycle game to develop and generate zone time.
New York did it for the majority of the second period, dominating the territorial battle and outshooting the home team 13-6. In the third, the Hurricanes got their legs going and the forecheck pinned the Islanders deep and created turnovers.
"Every team has it as part of their go-to things," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "It's a mindset. It's a small part of the big picture. You have a plan, whether it's the neutral zone or the [offensive]-zone forecheck. Teams that do it well, it's five pieces out there and it's become a real big part of the NHL game."
3. Counter point
The Islanders had trouble handling the aggressiveness the Hurricanes employ on their penalty kill.
Puck pressure is part of Carolina's DNA, especially on the kill, which led the NHL during the regular season (86.4 percent). Roy said there is no team in the League as fast or aggressive when down a man and it's hard to solve.
That's not good news for an Islanders team that was 20.4 percent (19th) on the power play. The Hurricanes are just as aggressive in pressuring the puck at even strength, and New York is already working on ways to counter it.
"It's a little bit of everything, I think," Islanders center Brock Nelson said. "Speed, motion, support; you have to be smart with puck placement. You have to have good outs from everyone, [defensemen], forwards."
Islanders projected lineup
Casey Cizikas -- Bo Horvat -- Mathew Barzal
Simon Holmstrom -- 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
Semyon Varlamov
Ilya Sorokin
Scratched: Hudson Fasching, Oliver Wahlstrom, Sebastian Aho, Samuel Bolduc, Ruslan Iskhakov
Injured: None
Hurricanes projected lineup
Jake Guentzel -- Sebastian Aho -- Seth Jarvis
Teuvo Teravainen -- Jesperi Kotkaniemi -- Martin Necas
Jordan Martinook -- Jordan Staal -- Andrei Svechnikov
Jack Drury -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Stefan Noesen
Jaccob Slavin -- Brent Burns
Brady Skjei -- Brett Pesce
Dmitry Orlov -- Jalen Chatfield
Frederik Andersen
Pyotr Kochetkov
Scratched: Brendan Lemieux, Tony DeAngelo, Spencer Martin, Scott Morrow, Bradly Nadeau, Jackson Blake
Injured: Jesper Fast (upper body)
Status report
The Hurricanes did not hold a morning skate. ... Fast, a forward, will miss his second straight game. ... Varlamov is expected to start again after making 23 saves in Game 1.
