ELMONT, N.Y. — The Islanders’ slide is continuing with little resistance.
Doomed by a first period in which they conceded three goals across the final 7:12 of the frame, New York (29-24-15) fell to the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1 on Tuesday night at UBS Arena in what was its fifth consecutive loss.
Seth Jarvis scored twice over 2:05 in the first period while Martin Necas added a demoralizing third on the power play with 1.1 seconds to go in that first period for good measure to take advantage of the slumping Islanders’ netminder, Ilya Sorokin, who stopped 31 shots. Jake Guentzel also recorded an empty-net goal and two assists in the win.
Hurricanes goalie Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 30 shots to extend New York’s misery that has seen it outscored 20-6 across this five-game slide. Kyle Palmieri scored the lone goal for the Islanders early in the third period.
The Islanders’ skid, which is coming on the heels of a six-game win streak, damages their playoff hopes further with every defeat as they are now entrenched firmly on the outside of the Eastern Conference playoff picture looking in.
Despite a fast start from the hosts, the Hurricanes came out of the first period with a 3-0 lead sparked by a pair from Jarvis in quick succession, scoring twice in just 2:05.
“They capitalized on their chances,” defenseman Noah Dobson said. “They probably had three chances and they scored on them. That’s just the way it’s going.”
The Carolina winger hopped on a loose puck in front of the Islanders’ net that was blocked by Jean-Gabriel Pageau and managed to finish from a tough angle by sliding the puck through a scrambling Sorokin’s legs.
He then positioned himself between four puck-watching New York defenders in front of Sorokin’s goal and one-timed a feed from Guentzel, who had two assists on the night, into an open net to double the visitors’ lead with 5:07 left.
Following an Adam Pelech penalty, Necas got Carolina’s third on the man advantage with 1.1 seconds left in the frame when he wove through the Islanders’ defense and snapped a wrister over the pad of Sorokin.
“It was a great shot,” Dobson said. “That one stung a little bit with a couple seconds left.”
A push was non-existent for the first 12 minutes of the second period as the Islanders recorded just one shot on goal compared to 10 from Carolina. They woke up to get 12 on Kochetkov’s goal in the final 7:52 of the period, but none found twine.
Palmieri finally beat Kochetkov 4:30 into the third period when he batted in a rebound off an open Brock Nelson wrister that spilled out of the goalie’s glove.
Islanders head coach Patrick Roy pulled Sorokin with 4:24 to go in the game for an extra attacker, but Guentzel scored an empty-netter from center-ice with 3:38 to play to put it away.
