There was no complaining from Devon Toews that the puck he kicked into the goal didn’t count, even though it would have been monumental for his Islanders.
Hanging on to a 1-0 lead with 14 seconds left in the second period, the swift-skating defenseman had a backhand shot stopped by Carolina goalie Curtis McElhinney, and as the rebound came back to Toews below the goal line, he ended up kicking it under McElhinney’s pad and in. The call on the ice was no goal, and it stood after a short review.
The Islanders would then give up two goals in the opening 65 seconds of the third period and lose, 2-1, going to Carolina for Game 3 of this second-round playoff series on Wednesday night down 2-0 in the best-of-seven contest.
“I didn’t even see it,” Toews said. “I was just trying to kick it back to my stick and it ended up in the net. I don’t know the ruling or anything. I trust they made the right call, so I guess it was no goal.”
Per the NHL release, the officials deemed Toews “used a distinct kicking motion to propel the puck into the Carolina net,” resulting in no goal, according to Rule 49.2. If it was a deflating moment, the Islanders didn’t admit it.
“We were still winning the game,” coach Barry Trotz said. “It’s a funny rule. He was below the goal line, trying to put it towards the front of the net. It’s the right call.”
When Hurricanes starting goalie Petr Mrazek left 6:27 into the second period with an injury, backup McElhinney entered. That also meant there needed to be an emergency goalie, provided by the home rink, ready in case McElhinney got hurt.
That happened to be Todd Scarola, who played club hockey at Stony Brook University on Long Island and who has twice had surgery to remove brain tumors. He did not get in the game.
There was no update from Trotz on forward Cal Clutterbuck, who had to be helped off the ice at the end of the game while dealing with what seemed like a back injury.
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So they are down 2-0 in this second round best-of-seven…
Carolina lost defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk after he was hit by Clutterbuck on the first shift of the game and seemingly injured his left shoulder. Coach Rod Brind’Amour said that van Riemsdyk is “not coming back anytime soon.”
The Hurricanes also lost forward Saku Maenalanen to an upper-body injury, and Brind’Amour didn’t have an immediate update.
The season for AHL Bridgeport ended Saturday, but there was no immediate plan to call anyone up as part of the practicing “black aces.” Trotz said that team — including offensively gifted winger Josh Ho-Sang — would go through its exit interviews over the next few days and then a decision would be made on who might come up.
The Islanders got their first power-play goal of the postseason on home ice when a Mat Barzal pass was deflected in at 13:17 of the first period. They had previously been 0-for-9 at home. The man-advantage overall is now 3-for-19 (15.7 percent) in the playoffs.