On Saturday, Dec. 7, the Carolina Hurricanes traveled for a one-game road trip with a stop on Long Island, NY to square off against Metropolitan Division foe the New York Islanders. They went into the game looking to carry the momentum from their 5-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night (Dec. 5). However, in the end, the home side took the win as the Hurricanes lost to the Islanders 4-3. What happened in the game to see the fishermen outlast the storm that was the Hurricanes?
Long Island Iced (Recap) Tea
It was mainly a back-and-forth contest in the first period with the Hurricanes having to kill two penalties within six minutes. They were able to kill off both to keep the game scoreless despite getting outshot 11-10 in the period. However, it was the visitors who took advantage on special teams, especially the power play after Scott Mayfield was called for interference. Andrei Svechnikov, after scoring two goals in the previous game against the Avalanche, scored a goal in two straight games, this one on the power play to make a 1-0 lead.
Related: Hurricanes Back in Win Column Following 5-3 Victory Over Avalanche
The Hurricanes ended the night two-for-two on the penalty kill and two-for-three on the power play. The second man-advantage marker came in the second period and was once again scored by Svechnikov after picking up the loose scraps in the blue paint behind netminder Ilya Sorokin to make it a 2-1 game. It was his second goal of the game, both on the power play to give him 11 on the season. This was three minutes after Jean-Gabriel Pageau tied the game for the Islanders’ first goal. After that, it was all for the home team as they added three more goals following the Svechnikov marker.
It only took 83 seconds for Oliver Wahlstom to tie the game once again with his second goal of the season. It was the last time the game was tied as Maxim Tsyplakov made it 3-2 Islanders six minutes later for their first lead of the game. He was able to grab the rebound and put it past Pyotr Kochetkov. Over two minutes later, on another transition for the Islanders, Bo Horvat was able to convert on a Pageau pass to make it 4-2 and end the period with four goals for the Long Island side.
The third period saw the Hurricanes draw back within one, with 47 seconds left in the game as Jesperi Kotkaniemi with the extra skater made it 4-3. He was in the right spot to convert the rebound for his fourth goal of the season. There was a scary incident as Kochetkov was racing out of the net to stop Islanders captain Anders Lee from grabbing the puck. The two collided and the Russian netminder lost his mask on the play. Luckily, he was okay but was assessed with an interference penalty along with Lee.
In the end, the Islanders outlasted the Hurricanes to win 4-3 and make the visitors 17-9-1 on the season.
Coming Back Home
The Hurricanes’ next game is on Tuesday, Dec. 10 against the San Jose Sharks to kick off a four-game homestand for the holidays. The puck drop is set for 7 p.m. Eastern. Regarding the Islanders, their next game is on Sunday, Dec. 8 on the road against the Ottawa Senators with puck drop at 5 p.m. Eastern.
