Highlights from the Islanders’ 5-3 Game 2 loss to the Hurricanes, putting them in a 2-0 playoff series hole.
3 stars
Sebastian Aho
Aho’s goal with 17:45 left tied the game and set up the winner — which was scored off the following faceoff — cementing a total and complete Islanders collapse before assisting Jake Guentzel’s empty-netter.
Seth Jarvis
After being demoted to the third line to make room for Andrei Svechnikov, Jarvis scored a goal and had a secondary assist to help kick-start Carolina’s comeback.
Semyon Varlamov
The 34 saves Varlamov made probably undersells his performance on a night where Carolina lived in the offensive zone and the Islanders were never comfortable. Varlamov gave his team every chance to win and the Islanders didn’t do enough in front of him.
Key moment
Carolina’s fast recovery to regain momentum after Anders Lee put the Islanders up 3-0 — in the form of offensive-zone pressure that led to Mathew Barzal’s tripping penalty and Teuvo Teravainen’s goal — kept their home crowd in the game and ensured this would be a hard lead for the Islanders to defend.
Quote of the day
“Right now, we’re just dealing with the sting.” — Anders Lee
