Islanders show fight, can't overcome quick goals in Game 5 loss to Hurricanes

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Anders Lee stood in front of his locker stall, holding back the emotion he and his New York Islanders teammates were feeling immediately after their season ended at PNC Arena on Tuesday.

The Islanders exhibited pushback but, in the end, couldn't generate enough puck luck in a 6-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference First Round. Carolina won the best-of-7 series and advanced to face the New York Rangers in the second round.

"I mean, that's just a tough way to lose a game," Lee said. "We were grinding back, stayed in the fight all night. We believed what we were doing, believed we were going to win this hockey game, and two bounces like that ... it's tough to swallow. But that's how it goes sometimes."

The Islanders captain was referring to two goals in a span of eight seconds by the Hurricanes in the third period. Jack Drury gave Carolina a 4-3 lead at 4:36 on a shot from the left circle after Brady Skjei’s initial shot from the right circle deflected to him off the skate of Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov.

If that wasn't hurtful enough, following the ensuing face-off, Islanders goalie Semyon Varlamov came out of his net to play a dump-in only to have the puck bounce off a stanchion inside the left boards near the goal line, hit off the side of the net and land at the edge of the crease, where Stefan Noesen tapped it into an open net for a 5-3 lead.

"Not a whole lot you can do," New York forward Kyle Palmieri said. "It stings to get put down by two like that. But, I mean, we battled back from down two earlier in the game and found a way to tie it. We knew we had our backs against the wall, and we battled our [butts] off to try and find a way to get back in it."

The fortitude exhibited by the Islanders in this series was a testament to their makeup and why they remained relevant all season.

"I mean, the resilience of this group ... it's the fabric of this hockey team," Lee said. "It's the character of the guys in this room and the pride they take in wearing our jersey. At no point this season or in this series did anyone ever take their foot off the gas, stop believing in what we were doing or stopped working. We battled to the very end.

"This was a tight series; look at any game. We just didn't get that extra bounce and they got two tonight."

Despite being outshot 21-4 in the first period, the Islanders refused to go quietly. They outshot the Hurricanes 11-9 in and scored twice in the second period, on goals by Brock Nelson at 3:47 and Casey Cizikas at 19:38, to tie it 3-3 and, for a short while, quiet the Carolina faithful.

In many ways, these cardiac Islanders were taking on the persona of their fiery coach, Patrick Roy, who replaced Lane Lambert on Jan. 20 and guided them to a 20-12-5 record in their 37 final games of the regular season.

"I mean, [Roy] was a spark," Palmieri said. "Everyone knows the passion, not only that he played with, but what he brings to a room. As a team, the second he came in for his first meeting it was, 'Hey, it's time to make our push,' and I think, as a group, we rallied around that and found a way to give ourselves a chance to compete in the playoffs."

New York went 8-0-1 in April to move from outside the Stanley Cup Playoff picture to finishing in third place in the Metropolitan Division.

"I am very proud of this group because they were resilient," Roy said. "I mean, even tonight they showed that. That's how they were all year. It would have been easy to pack it in and it's not what we did. We kept pushing and tried to find ways to come back in that game, especially after the first period where we got dominated. They were quicker on the puck, they played better than us in that first, but we came back strong in that second and it's too bad."

This marked the third time in six seasons that the Hurricanes eliminated the Islanders, who were swept in the second round in 2019 and lost in six games last season. The third period ultimately was the Islanders’ undoing in this series; they were outscored 10-1.

"The third period wasn't really talked about much," Palmieri said. "I think for us, it was really about every game is going to be different. Sometimes, it's protecting a lead or whatever, but I think as a group, we were proud of what we accomplished this year and knew we were capable of winning this series."

Not counting the empty-net goals in the first two games of the series, three of New York's losses were by one goal. On Tuesday, Carolina scored another empty-net goal for the 6-3 final.

"I thought we played some good hockey in that series," Roy said. "Losing in five, I feel like we deserve a little bit better and I'm not saying we should have won that series, I'm saying that we could go home right now and play game No. 6 easily and instead it's over.

"It feels empty because I thought we did a lot better than what we got in return."