The New York Islanders held off elimination by scoring at the beginning of the second overtime to defeat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2. The Islanders have staved off elimination in a contest that required multiple overtime periods for the third time in franchise history (Game 7 of 1987 DSF & Game 5 of 2020 CF).
Matt Barzal deflected a Robert Borttuzzo shot to give the Islanders the win and force a Game 5. Barzal scored his second career playoff overtime goal and moved into a tie for the fourth most in franchise history.
Seth Jarvis opened the scoring with a power-play goal in the first period when he picked up a loose puck in front of the net and slammed it home past Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov. It was the tenth playoff goal for Jarvis and he joined Andrei Svechnikov as just the second skater in franchise history with at least a double-digit playoff total before age 23.
The Islanders tied the game in the second period on a goal by Mathew Barzal, his first of the playoff series.
Thanks to a Sebastian Aho tripping penalty at the end of the second period, the Islanders started the third period on the power play. They made the most of the opportunity when Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored with 28 seconds left in the man advantage to give them a 2-1 advantage.
The Hurricanes tied the game with just under six minutes left in regulation on Stefan Noesen’s power-play goal.
The end of the first overtime provided some drama when the Hurricanes’ Dmitri Orlov appeared to hit Anders Lee in the head with his elbow. Lee was not happy with Orlov and put him a bit of a headlock as the other players on the ice scuffled with each other. The officials huddled after the team went to the locker room and gave roughing penalties to Jake Guentzel and Adam Pelech
Entering extra time, the Hurricanes/Whalers have required overtime in a potential clinching game in a best-of-seven 11 times in franchise history and have won in each of the past five chances (last: Game 5 of 2023 R2 vs. NJD). The Islanders required more than 60 minutes in a potential elimination game 11 times (6-5) and last won during Game 6 of the 2021 Stanley Cup Semifinals.
Varlamov got the start between the pipes for Game 4. The netminder stopped all eight shots faced in relief on Thursday night after he started Games 1 and 2. Entering Game 4, he had allowed six goals and posted a .915 SV%.
Varlamov has 41 saves upon the conclusion of the first overtime period. It is the fourth time in his career doing so, which is the second most in Islanders history.
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Jesper Fast (upper-body) was ruled out by the Hurricanes for the postseason after he missed the first three games of the First Round. They are also without Brett Pesce, who missed Game 3 after he sustained a lower-body injury in the second period of Game 2.
Ruslan Iskhakov made his NHL playoff debut for the Islanders, filling in for Matt Martin, who is sidelined with a lower-body injury. Martin’s absence ends his streak of 82 consecutive playoff appearances. He hasn’t missed a postseason since 2007, Game 5 of a first-round series against the Buffalo Sabres.
Game 5 of the series will be Tuesday night (April 30) at PNC Arena