Hurricanes 4 – Islanders 1
With everything that’s wrong with the Islanders right now, there should be a telethon dedicated to finding a cure.
Last night, in a stinker of a 4-1 loss to the Hurricanes, the Isles again were ready to rip the hair from their own scalps as their shots avoided the inside of the net with incredible regularity. Their special teams are anything but that and now, six games into the season, players’ heads are already shaking as to how to fix the problems.
“It’s all frustrating,” coach Peter Laviolette said. “We’re in it for results and we’re not getting them.”
The power play continued to sputter, even as the Isles failed to score on nine extra-man chances, including a five-on-three. The penalty kill allowed goals on three of the Hurricanes’ eight extra-man opportunities.
“They’ll come,” Laviolette said of his team’s power-play goals. “That’s all I can tell you.”
And while they allowed only 18 shots on net, the Islanders unloaded 37 shots on Kevin Weekes with enough accuracy that you could safely store your best china in the enemy goal without fear of a single dish being chipped, scratched or even grazed by a puck.
“It’s a privilege to be on the power play,” said Adrian Aucoin, who missed the net five times. “And we’ve gotta start showing it.”
The laundry list of Islanders malfunctions didn’t end on special teams.
There were mock cheers raining down on Garth Snow, who got the start on Chris Osgood Bobblehead Night, when he stopped a dump-in after allowing Carolina to go up 3-0 on just five shots. Kevyn Adams scored on Carolina’s second shot on goal at 9:19 of the first period. Sami Kapanen made it 2-0 on their next shot, their third of the game, at 4:31 of the second. Then 23 seconds and two shots later, Rod Brind’Amour extended the Hurricane lead to three when he slid Erik Cole’s rebound under Snow.
Asked which goal he wished he could have back, Snow said, “All of them. Even the empty-netter.”
“To me it’s the same as the Nashville game, the same as the Washington game, it’s the same as the Atlanta game,” Laviolette said. “It’s tough sledding.”
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Oleg Kvasha left the game late in the second period with a bruised ankle after being struck with a shot . . . Claude Lapointe scored the lone Islander goal, his second in two games, midway through the second period . . . Kapanen added an empty-netter for Carolina’s fourth score . . . Laviolette said the target date for Michael Peca’s return to regular action is Dec. 4, two days before the Maple Leafs (and archrival Darcy Tucker) invade the Coliseum.