How did it happen:
The Islanders jumped out of the gate, but couldn't convert their top-tier looks to Max Tsyplakov and Hudson Fasching in the first three minutes. That proved costly, as Carolina opened the scoring with Svechnikov's goal at 5:47, while Martinok beat Noah Dobson off a rebound from Ilya Sorokin to make it 2-0 at 8:21.
That put the Islanders in pursuit mode, although they continued to press, and at one point scored 12 shots in a row, spanning the end of the first half and the start of the second, but they were unable to stop Kochetkov.
This once again proved costly, as the opportunistic Canes struck again, with Joost poking a Shane Gostisbehere rebound out of the air and past Sorokin at 11:13. Denis Cholowski had the Islanders' best chance of the period, but Kochetkov refused to serve him out the back door, which was sharp from start to finish. Cholowski's attempt was the Islanders' final shot of the second period and it was all from the Canes in the final three-and-a-half minutes, culminating with Aho scoring on a two-man rush with 15 seconds to play in the middle frame.
The Islanders were unable to come back in the third period, with Kochetkov holding on strong. Brock Nelson's shot was close to breaking the silence after a partial breakaway, but his shot scratched Kochetkov before it crossed the net. In the end, the Isles left empty-handed in their first game back at North Carolina since last year's playoff loss.
“It's frustrating,” Bo Horvat said. “We gave him a lot of individual bursts, a lot of opportunities to take advantage of. I didn't think our game was terrible. We had our looks, and their goalie certainly played well, but at the end of the day, we didn't get it done.”
2024-12-18 03:57:35
