As the New York Islanders built a season-best six-game winning streak, their final regular-season clash against the Carolina Hurricanes loomed as a potential playoff preview.
But four straight losses have turned Tuesday night’s game against the Hurricanes into a borderline must-win battle to remain in the postseason hunt for the Islanders, who will look to snap their untimely skid when they host Carolina in Elmont, N.Y.
Both teams were off Monday after completing back-to-back sets with road games Sunday afternoon, when the Islanders fell to the New York Rangers 5-2 and the Hurricanes cruised past the Ottawa Senators 7-2.
Consecutive losses proved particularly costly for the Islanders, who fell to the Senators 4-3 in overtime at home on Saturday. New York (29-23-15, 73 points) entered Monday in 10th place in the Eastern Conference, one point behind the Detroit Red Wings in the race for the final wild-card spot.
The Islanders are tied with the Washington Capitals, who had a game in hand entering Monday night’s tilt with the Calgary Flames.
The four-game losing streak (0-3-1) has threatened to undo all the gains the Islanders made during their six-game winning streak, when they outscored the opposition 30-11 to climb into a wild-card spot for the first time since early January. At the time, they had closed within two points of the Philadelphia Flyers for third place and the final guaranteed playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division.
The Islanders have been outscored 16-5 in the last four games since and have held just a trio of one-goal — including Sunday, when Bo Horvat scored with 5:52 left in the first period. Horvat also tied the score with 6:05 remaining in the second, but Jonny Brodzinski scored just 66 seconds later to begin a three-goal flurry by the Rangers.
“The last few games here, it’s not good enough,” Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson said. “We fought all year to get ourselves back in the picture. We can’t just let that opportunity slip here. I think it’s just gut-check time for everyone.”
Remaining in the playoff picture hasn’t been a problem for the Hurricanes (42-20-6, 90 points), who have gone 25-7-2 since Dec. 27, a span in which they’ve lost consecutive games just once. Carolina is four points behind the first-place Rangers in the Metropolitan Division and 14 points clear of the Flyers.
The Hurricanes are 6-2-0 since March 1, a stretch highlighted by an active trade deadline in which they acquired Stanley Cup-winning centers Jake Guentzel and Evgeny Kuznetsov in separate deals. Carolina has made two trips to the Eastern Conference Finals in the last five seasons but hasn’t reached the Stanley Cup Final since winning the lone title in franchise history in 2006.
Guentzel and Kuznetsov have combined for nine points with the Hurricanes. Both players scored Sunday, when Guentzel registered his first goal since the trade. Carolina collected seven goals Sunday for the second time in a five-game span.
“We all know they’re good players, but they want to contribute,” Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “And that’s what they’ve done stepping into the lineup. Kuzy got another goal tonight and Guentz getting a nice one there. That’s the way you fit in and that’s the way you feel good about coming to a new team.”
–Field Level Media