Carolina @ New York preview

Last Meeting ( Apr 26, 2019 ) Carolina 1, NY Islanders 0

Despite limiting the opposition to one goal for the fourth consecutive game, the New York Islanders find themselves trailing in a series for the first time this postseason. Coming off a four-game sweep of Pittsburgh, the Islanders look to avoid falling into a 2-0 hole when they resume their Eastern Conference semifinal against the visiting Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday afternoon.

New York can take some solace in the fact that it limited Carolina to one goal for the fourth time in five meetings in Friday's 1-0 overtime setback, so the players were not overreacting to their first defeat of the playoffs. "Obviously, you don't want to lose, but we're not going to win every game," goaltender Robin Lehner told reporters. "We just got to bounce back. It's a big game here on Sunday." The Hurricanes, playing just 48 hours after eliminating defending Stanley Cup champion Washington with a Game 7 overtime victory on the road, have won three straight and five of their last six since dropping the first two against the Capitals. "We wanted to roll into this game on a high and try to keep riding that wave," Jordan Staal told reporters after scoring the deciding goal in OT. "We came into this game feeling good about ourselves. Knowing our game is good enough, we keep at it and stay with it."

TV: 3 p.m. ET, NBC, CBC, Sportsnet, TVA

ABOUT THE HURRICANES: Captain Justin Williams told reporters that they could make a case for Staal for team MVP, but he also gave a nod to netminder Petr Mrazek, who turned aside 31 shots to register his fifth career playoff shutout and second of his postseason. “I don’t know if it had that feeling watching it, but it had that feeling playing it that one goal was probably going to be enough for him, whether it was scored in the first, second or third,” Williams said. “It just kind of felt that way.” Coach Rod Brind’Amour told reporters forward Andrei Svechnikov has cleared the concussion protocol, but will not play until Game 3 at the earliest.

ABOUT THE ISLANDERS: Defense and goaltending have been the calling cards in the playoffs for New York, which outscored the Penguins 14-6 but was unable to dent the scoreboard against Carolina. "They’re a tight team. We play tight, they play tight," said top-line forward Jordan Eberle, who was held to one shot on net and had his four-game goal-scoring streak snapped. "There’s not a lot of room out there. We had our chances. We created. We had some good looks." The power play continues to struggle for the Islanders, who have converted on 2 of 17 chances in the postseason and failed on nine straight over the past three games.

OVERTIME

1. Islanders C Mathew Barzal, who had two assists in four regular-season matchups, had a four-game point streak halted.

2. Carolina is 0-for-16 with the man advantage over its last five games.

3. New York has never lost the first two games of a playoff series at home.

PREDICTION: Islanders 3, Hurricanes 1