Both the New York Islanders and Carolina Hurricanes were looked at as “underdogs” in their respective series’. The Islanders swept the notorious Pittsburgh Penguins and the Hurricanes defeated the reigning champion Washington Capitals in seven games. The Islanders will have home ice in this series, which will be played in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. This season the Islanders held a 3-1-0 record against the Hurricanes, but both teams have not faced each other since the beginning of January. Let’s take a look at the matchups.

Oct. 4, 2018: New York Islanders @ Carolina Hurricanes 
The New York Islanders started odd their 2018-19 season ironically in Carolina. The first game in the Barry Trotz era was a massive success, as the Islanders won in overtime by a score of 2-1. It wasn’t a pretty game by any means. The Islanders held a one-goal lead for most of the game thanks to Valterri Filppula’s first goal in the blue and orange.

The Hurricanes would later pull their goalie towards the end of the third period. To no one’s surprise, the Islanders would allow a late goal with under two minutes left, as Jordan Staal deflected a shot from the point with 1:35 remaining in the final frame.

The game would go to overtime and the Islanders prized possession, Mathew Barzal, made a spectacular pass through multiple Hurricane defenders to find Josh Bailey, who would seal the game and give the Islanders their first win of the season.

Oct. 28, 2018: New York Islanders @ Carolina Hurricanes
Only a few weeks after their first matchup at PNC Arena, the Islanders were back and looking for another big win against their divisional foe. The Islanders would once again score the first goal, as Anders Lee scored a power-play goal only a few minutes into the game.

Carolina would later tie the game, as Hurricanes winger Teuvo Teravainen would put in a rebound past Thomas Greiss only two minutes into the second period. Ryan Pulock followed it up by breaking his scoring drought, as he finally scored his first goal of the season despite an outstanding pre-season. Pulock’s goal would give the Islanders another 2-1 win against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Dec. 24, 2018: Carolina Hurricanes @ New York Islanders
The Islanders were set to play Carolina once again on the end of back-to-back after defeating the New Jersey Devils 4-3 in overtime the previous night. For the third time in their season series, the Islanders would score the first goal. Once again, Valterri Filppula would skate around the Hurricanes defense en route to scoring a beautiful goal with only a little over three minutes into the period.

The Islanders truly dominated the Hurricanes in this match, as the team would go on to score a heap of goals from Anthony Beauvillier, Josh Bailey, and Adam Pelech to take a 4-0 lead in the middle of the third period. The Hurricanes captain, Justin Williams, scored a late goal to decrease the Islanders lead towards the end of the game. The Islanders would once again defeat the Hurricanes by a final score of 4-1, and officially win the season series against them.

Jan. 8th 2019 Carolina Hurricanes @ New York Islanders
The Islanders were riding a six game win streak heading into their final game against the Hurricanes this season, as well as riding a record of 3-0-1 at their old barn, NYCB Live.

Brock Nelson would start the game off in style, shooting one past Curtis McElhinney, once again giving the Islanders the lead at the start of the game. This time, the Hurricanes would have a response, scoring two goals from Greg McKegg and Saku Mäenalanen to end the first period.

Not much happened in the second period, but the third period surely was full of entertainment. The Islanders tied the game minutes into third when Devon Toews score off a wrist shot from the point to tie the game at two. The Hurricanes would once again respond in style, scoring two late goals to take a 4-2 lead with only minutes remaining. Brock Nelson would score his second of the game, bringing it back to a one goal game. The Islanders win streak finally came to an end and the Hurricanes took the last game against the Islanders by a score of 4-3.

The season series against the Carolina Hurricanes was a close one, having three games only won by one goal throughout the series. Look for that to continue in a series between two teams nobody expected to make it this far.
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John Smark