Hurricanes Get Job Done At Home, Head to Long Island

The Carolina Hurricanes will leave Raleigh and head to Long Island with a two-game lead on the Islanders. It took an OT goal from Jesper Fast to get the job done at PNC Arena on Wednesday evening.

In another physical battle presented by the Islanders, the Canes answered the call and kept to their game, and picked their spots to fight back.

The Canes controlled the game early and took a two-goal lead but the Islanders continued to fight and battle back into the game and tied the game late in the second period from a Mat Barzal goal.

Despite continuing to control most of the play in the third period, the Islanders were able to make a play and get Brock Nelson in alone for a snipe shot. A less-than-ideal defensive effort from Martin Necas allowed Nelson to enter the slot alone.

Shortly after that, Jaccob Slavin took an odd-angle shot that hit off Ilya Sorokin’s helmet and into the net to tie the game. The remainder of the period had some chances for the Canes but the game headed to overtime.

The extra period was brief with a quick goal by Fast catching Sorokin deep in his crease and picking a spot across the net to end Game 2.

The Islanders proved to take the physical game too far committing two 4-minute penalties and additionally questionable hits throughout the contest.

The Canes were able to avoid most of the attempted hits but suffered a loss at the end of the day. Teuvo Teravainen will miss the rest of the series with a hand injury that will require surgery.

It appeared that J.G. Pageau got a slash on Teravainen’s hand as he was taking a shot.

Rod Brind’Amour was agitated about the injury after the game and will have to dig into his pocket of depth to replace Teravainen.

Acquired at the trade deadline, Jesse Puljujarvi will likely enter the lineup.

Despite not making a splash at the trade deadline, Don Waddell was able to strengthen the depth of his team with the acquisition of Puljujarvi and Shane Gostisbehere.

Taking a lot of heat, Waddell did not give up the future and was able to add quality to an already strong team. That depth has already been tested with the season-ending injury to Andrei Svechnikov but the true test will come now with the injury to Teravainen.

Canes play again on Friday night on Long Island at UBS Arena.