Color me shocked. I thought last night’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes spelled disaster for the New York Islanders. It was written all over it: injured, broken team at (what hopefully was) rock bottom going up against its kryptonite opponent, who has caused some of the Islanders’ most spectacular blown leads over the last couple of years, including in the playoffs.
However, the Islanders pulled it off, scoring all four goals in the second period en route to a 4-3 victory in which they did not blow the lead. Carolina pushed really, really hard in the third—in some ways, it reminded me of 2023 Game 6—but the Islanders held on.