When Logan Stankoven beat Semyon Varlamov just 57 seconds into the game to give the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead over the Islanders, the crowd at UBS Arena was stunned. And then, less than two and a half minutes later, Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored to make it 2-0 Carolina.
At that point, Islanders fans on social media began to blame the controversial fisherman logo that made it’s return on Thursday night as part of the NHL’s Hometown Remix jersey program.
It may have been a fishy start to the game, but the Islanders 5-3 loss to the Hurricanes had nothing to do with the fisherman logo. When William Carrier broke a 3-3 tie at 14:52 of the third period and Jalen Chatfield’s empty net goal with 51 seconds left salted the game away, the popular opinion within Islanders Country was that it was the “curse of the fisherman” that led to the loss.
How about we reel in the truth?
The Islanders were 0 for 4 on the power play and that was the biggest reason why they lost the game.
“I think we gotta get a power play goal,” said Head Coach Peter DeBoer. “I think that changes the game if we find a way to stick one in. They put you under a lot of pressure there and you have to execute and make a play under pressure either five on five or the power play to do that. We didn’t execute under that pressure in the power play for sure.”
When they had the man advantage, the Islanders were sloppy at times and had some difficulty gaining entry into the offensive zone. There were also times when they had possession in the Carolina end, but just couldn’t finish.
“A guy gets the puck in a good position,” said Islanders forward Brayden Schenn. “We just can’t seem to make the next play. A good power play finds a way to make the next play.”
Aside from the struggling power play, there were a number of other grade A scoring chances in the game that the Islanders failed to capitalize on. One could point to the Islanders being shorthanded due to injury with Mat Barzal, Cal Ritchie, Matias Maccelli, and Ryan Pulock all out of the lineup.
Still, the Islanders had some really good looks but Hurricanes goalie Brandon Bussi came up huge.
“Their goalie played well,” said Islanders captain Bo Horvat. “He made some big saves when he had to. We definitely had our chances. I think we had three or four breakaways. It’s just a matter of it going in for us but the chances are there for sure.”
The Islanders did get goals from Mitchell Chaeffee, Brayden Schenn, and Victor Eklund but it wasn’t enough on a night when the Metropolitan Division leading Hurricanes looked ripe to be beaten.
Next up, the New Jersey Devils visit Elmont on Saturday night and the Islanders will hope that a Friday practice can help clean up a power play that they will need to function more efficiently if they want to move up the standings.
The Islanders were 0 for 4 on the man advantage against the Hurricanes.
The Islanders were 0 for 4 on the man advantage against the Hurricanes.
