Islanders spoil Christmas, beat Canes 5-4

The Islanders proved too much for the Carolina Hurricanes on the night before the night before Christmas. With a three-goal first period, the Canes never caught up and went into the holidays on a disappointing note.

Carolina (17-13-4) had its point streak come to an end when the Islanders (16-8-9) dominated from start to finish. Scoring four goals usually means you leave the game with at least a point, however, it was not the case for the Canes. 

“I’m sure you can [take away some positives from the game], but we needed this win obviously,” said center Sebastian Aho. “I don’t think we played as nearly well as we could, this one hurts.”

With four losses in the last five games, one of the few bright spots for the team has been its penalty-killing units. In December, the Canes have been short-handed 37 times and have only allowed a league-leading one goal. Unusually, the Canes special teams were clicking while the 5-on-5 play was careless.

Just over halfway through the first, right wing Andrei Svechnikov collected the puck in transition, and as he was about to cut in towards the net with the puck, Islanders defenseman Mike Reilly swept his skates out from under him. 

The Islanders capitalized in transition with Isles defenseman Sebastian Aho putting home a loose puck between the circles, sending the Canes' defense into a frenzy.  In the spirit of Festivus, the Caniacs aired their grievances letting the stripes hear it with one of the loudest “refs you suck” chants of the season.

“First goal was a tough one because that was a penalty, should’ve been one end then they come down and score,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “You lose by a goal, it’s a big game of goals so that compounds it too.”

It didn’t take long for the Canes to get it back; just over a minute later left wing Teuvo Teravainen shoveled a loose puck in the crease across the goal line to tie the game at one. This joy was short-lived for the Hurricanes because, in the next 6 minutes, the Isles tacked on 2 more goals of their own.

After getting kicked out of the faceoff circle, Islanders center Brock Nelson received the puck with his back to the goal in the slot and, all in one motion whipped around firing a puck into the net. Canes netminder Pyotr Kochetkov was perfectly screened on the play, unable to locate the puck.

With under two minutes left in the frame, the Islanders scored again courtesy of center Bo Horvat. Islanders center Mathew Barzal entered the zone and with a cross-ice pass found Horvat who one-timed it past Kochetkov on a goal he’d like to have back.

For the first time since Dec. 6, the Canes allowed 3+ goals in the opening period. The Canes needed a strong start to the second to get back in this game and center Sebastian Aho stepped up.

Fifty seconds into the period, the Hurricanes found themselves a man up and made quick work of the second-worst penalty kill in the league. 10 seconds in, Aho came in from the point and snapped a shot past the blocker of Isles goaltender Ilya Sorokin to get the Canes within one.

The rest of the second was sloppy hockey from both teams. Each side was getting clogged in the neutral zone and turning the puck over, a big reason why both teams’ lowest shot totals came in the second period.

A turnover from Canes defenseman Brent Burns gave the Islanders a rush chance going the other way and as Carolina was searching to match up on defense, Barzal got the puck to Reilly who snapped a shot past Kochetkov from the point.

“We just have to be better defensively,” said defenseman Jaccob Slavin. “That’s been our lapses this year when we are not playing well, we’re giving too many chances against.”

Slavin is not one to shy away from calling it how he sees it, and he led by example to start the third. Center Martin Necas flew into the zone, faked a wraparound shot, and put the puck on a tee for Slavin who clapped in a shot with just under two minutes in. Over his career, Slavin’s most goals and most points have come when facing the Islanders.

Less than two minutes later, Islanders captain center Anders Lee got to the back post area unmarked and with the puck on his stick slotted the puck through Kochetkov’s five-hole, his third saveable goal allowed in a row.

Kochetkov had a bad game, plain and simple. Although a less-than-stellar performance shouldn’t diminish how well he has played coming into this game. Before this game and after December 12th, Kochetkov’s 0.949 save percentage led all NHL goalies who made at least three starts. It was only a matter of time before his fatigue set in when he started four games in seven days.

“[We are] probably riding him a bit too much,” Brind’Amour said. “You could tell he wasn’t as good as he has been, that was probably the difference.”

While on the power play, right wing Stefan Noesen received the puck down low and off a fortuitous bounce from his between-the-legs pass, Noesen got his rebound and put Carolina in striking distance. His late goal marks his 10th goal of the season and becomes the fourth Hurricanes player to reach the mark.

The Canes will return to action on Wednesday, December 27th in Nashville when they take on the Predators (19-15-0) at 8 p.m.