A wild night in Brooklyn concluded with the New York Islanders topping the Hurricanes 6-4 with intense back-and-forth action.
- New York Islanders (10-6-2, 22 points) 6
- Carolina Hurricanes (7-6-4, 18 points) 4
- Mathew Barzal (4), Cal Clutterbuck (3), Nick Leddy (4), Josh Bailey (4), Johnny Boychuk (2), Jordan Eberle (7)
- Elias Lindholm (4), Noah Hanifin (2), Derek Ryan (4), Sebastian Aho (4)
- NHL Final, Box Score
- Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
A chaotic first period saw the New York Islanders carry a 3-1 lead into the locker room with goals from Mathew Barzal, Cal Clutterbuck and Nick Leddy.
When the Islanders took the ice for the second period, the Hurricanes stormed right back with Noah Hanifin bringing the Canes within one less than three minutes into the period.
Derek Ryan would be the beneficiary of a goal, after Thomas Greiss made the initial save, but slid the puck in after losing it in his right pad.
With less than a minute left in the second, the Islanders conceded a goal to Sebastian Aho after Barzal was outmuscled by Jordan Staal in the corner.
There was an air of dread heading into the 3rd period, as the Isles gave away their two goal lead and now trailed by one.
Josh Bailey pulled it back for the Islanders, tallying a powerplay goal for the Islanders and knotting the score at four a piece.
M-V-P! M-V-P! pic.twitter.com/GauIaiTJKy
— IslesBlog (@IslesBlog) November 17, 2017
The Islanders were back in the driver’s seat, thanks to Johnny Boychuk‘s second goal of the season.
Don't let @joboych walk into one!
5-4 #Isles pic.twitter.com/tSISQ1Ugb5
— IslesBlog (@IslesBlog) November 17, 2017
Jordan Eberle iced the game for the Islanders, and the two points were secured.
All of @jeberle_7's 7 goals have come in the last 8 games #Isles pic.twitter.com/hBhTwaauZW
— IslesBlog (@IslesBlog) November 17, 2017
Takeaways
The Islanders showed a lot of resilience in being able to not let Carolina’s surge dictate the pace of the game. From the get-go, they came flying out of the gate with fantastic energy and with the exception of the second period, didn’t let up.
In a refreshing change of pace, Cal Clutterbuck finally looked like his old self again, being a notable presence up and down the ice. Of all the guys on the Islanders roster, Clutterbuck was one of two forwards who deserved a goal, right behind Jason Chimera.
Chimera had one of his best games in sometime, who despite not hitting the scoreboard, had some of the stronger shifts for the Islanders fourth line.
Barzal continued propeling the players around him, as his line of Andrew Ladd and Jordan Eberle combined for five points total.
With Josh Ho-Sang in the lineup, the trio of him, Anthony Beauvillier and Brock Nelson were reunited with overall disappointing results.
DW on 72-29-66: "They had 3 or 4 turnovers right at our blue line. They've got to pick it up. We need some guys we've got to be able to trust. They're good hockey players, they're good people & they're gonna be fine. But we've got to find a way to get some more out of em." #Isles
— Brian Compton (@BComptonNHL) November 17, 2017
The Islanders will hit the road this Saturday to faceoff against the league-leading Tampa Bay Lightning.
