The call, which not only wiped out the one and only puck the Islanders were able to put past Petr Mrazek in Friday’s second-round opener at Barclays Center, but also sent Anders Lee to the penalty box for goaltender interference at 17:07 of the second period, was a debatable one. And so Barry Trotz and his staff debated whether to challenge it.
“It was tough, you can’t challenge the penalty, and at first it looked like [Lee] was shoved into the goalie and then maybe not,” the Islanders coach said. “At that point in the game, 0-0, I didn’t want to lose the timeout in case something else were to come up later for a challenge, so we didn’t.”
So Mat Barzal, who popped in the puck from just outside the crease, did not score. He was not alone. Indeed, when the night ended on a put-back of a well-placed carom off the back wall by the Hurricanes’ Jordan Staal at 4:04 of overtime, it was 1-0 on the scoreboard and in the series for the Rock Candy Canes.
There were spasms of chances in this game that hardly served as advertisement for what is largely a no-name matchup. There was little in the way of sustained offense from either team, one back on the ice a bit too quickly after a seven-game first-round that ended on Wednesday and the other back on the ice with a bit too much rest following its opening sweep that concluded April 16.
If this was an internal battle of rust versus rest fought by the Islanders, well, they lost. Yes, they hung with Carolina, and no, they didn’t get blown out, but boy, this was one that could have been played in December without much notice. Pace came and went. Golden chances were few and far between. Creativity was at a low ebb.
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“They play tight, we play tight,” said Jordan Eberle, the magic dust that coated his stick blade against Pittsburgh apparently having evaporated during the break. “There’s not a lot of room out there. That’s the way it’s probably going to be.”
Oh, please, no. Mrazek, who has a 121:47 shutout streak, made a nifty glove save on a Josh Bailey breakaway with 6:02 to go in the first period and denied Eberle from the left circle early in the second, but was hardly under siege. Robin Lehner, whose shutout streak of 111:10 ended with Staal’s goal, made a handful of noteworthy stops, the most memorable coming with the left pad on a Greg McKegg backhand breakaway midway through the second.
But this was hardly an old-time playoff goaltending duel. Perhaps it would have been if the netminders had faced a greater degree of difficulty, but no. Mrazek and Lehner were the best players on the ice, but largely by default.
The ice was bad and pucks were bouncing. The Islanders made uncharacteristic blunders with the puck, notably the one by Cal Clutterbuck while his team was on the rush immediately before his poor decision and errant play allowed Carolina to rush the other way for what became the winner.
The Islanders and Canes had never before met in the postseason, not even when the Hurricanes were Whalers in Hartford. The teams share no memories beyond the 64:04 played in Game 1 in Brooklyn. We will go out on a limb and suggest these won’t last a lifetime.
No series can be lost in Game 1, unless that is, you’re the Lightning and blow an early 3-0 lead. The Islanders are obviously not done. But in order to turn rust into diamonds on a Stanley Cup ring, they must be sharper, crisper and more purposeful. The Islanders weren’t exactly bad, but they never truly asserted themselves. They did not elevate from Round 1 to Round 2.
“We can’t get hung up on one game,” Lee said. “For the most part we played the way we wanted to.”
But they didn’t play as well as necessary in to in order to take Game 1. They didn’t play with enough authority to plant even a seed of doubt into their opponents. Hence, the Islanders face their first bit of adversity, albeit mild, in the tournament. A response is necessary Sunday afternoon in Game 2.
There is no debate about that.