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The New York Islanders were leading 3-0 Monday night against the Carolina Hurricanes and had never blown that big a lead in their long, successful playoff history.
Instead they’re heading home down 2-0 in the first-round Eastern Conference series after an epic collapse that included the Hurricanes scoring the tying goal and go-ahead goal nine seconds apart late in the third period for a 5-3 win.
Carolina outshot the Islanders 17-1 in the third period and scored four third-period goals.
“We can’t just get a lead and try to hold on,” Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson told reporters. “They’re too good of a team for that.”
The Islanders got their big lead nearly 24 minutes into the game on goals by Kyle Palmieri, Bo Horvat and Anders Lee, even though they were outshot 8-0 early in the game. But the Hurricanes chipped away on goals by Teuvo Teravainen in the second period and Seth Jarvis in the third. An Islanders goal was wiped out for a high stick, setting the stage for the Hurricanes’ heroics.
With their goalie pulled, the Hurricanes got a tying goal by Sebastian Aho. Islanders coach Patrick Roy told reporters he thought about calling a timeout but didn’t.
After the following faceoff, Jack Drury pushed the puck in deep. Jordan Martinook knocked Dobson off the puck behind the net and came out front to beat goalie Semyon Varlamov for a 4-3 lead.