After two away losses, the “Islanders” lost 2:3 (0:2, 2:1, 0:0) at home on Thursday, falling to 0-3 in the four-game winning streak.
“Hurricanes” laid the foundations for success already in the first third, when Brent Burns and Dmitrijs Orlovs stood out with accurate shots.
In the third minute of the second period, Pierre Engvall recovered one goal for the home team, however, less than five minutes later, Sebastian Aho restored the visitors’ two-goal lead. By the end of the third period, Brock Nelson brought the “Islanders” closer to 2:3, but in the continuation, no more goals were scored and the New Yorkers had to settle for the third loss in a row.
Frederik Andersen made 29 of 31 saves in the win, while home goaltender Ilya Sorokin made 11 of 14 shots and was substituted after the third goal. Semyon Varlamov, who entered the field instead of him, saved all eight remaining shots in 30 minutes.
The fourth game of the series will be played in New York on Saturday.
The winner of this series will meet the hockey players of the New York “Rangers” or the Washington “Capitals” in the second round of the “play off”, or in the semi-finals of the Eastern Conference. The Rangers are currently leading the series 2-0.
In the final series of the previous season, the Vegas “Golden Knights” beat the Florida “Panthers” 4-1, and Latvian forward Teodoras Bļuger became the winner of the Stanley Cup as part of the Vegas team.
