Game 4 Preview: Islanders vs. Hurricanes

NEW YORK ISLANDERS VS CAROLINA HURRICANES

GAME 4 | CAR LEADS BEST OF SEVEN SERIES 3-0

2 PM | UBS ARENA | BUY TICKETS

WATCH: MSGSN, MSG+, TBS, TRUTV, MAX

LISTEN: 88.7FM, 103.9FM, 1050AM

The New York Islanders will look to keep their season alive when they host the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 4 of their First Round series on Saturday. The Isles currently trail 3-0.

The Islanders fell 3-2 in a tightly contested Game 3 on Thursday at UBS Arena. Brent Burns and Dmitry Orlov scored in the first period while Sebastian Aho’s second period goal put the Hurricanes up 3-1 and held as the game-winner. Pierre Engvall and Brock Nelson scored but the Islanders weren’t able to find the equalizer despite a third period where the Isles outshot the Canes 11-3.

“It comes down to very small things throughout each game, and we’ve come up short three times now,” Captain Anders Lee said. “Regardless of if we’ve played well, or if we haven’t had a good night, there’s another level that we need to get to.”

The Islanders have a big hill to climb to get back into the series. Only four – of 206 – teams have rallied out of a 3-0 series deficit, but the Islanders are going with a one game at a time mentality, looking to pour their best effort into Saturday’s do-or-die contest, leaving them no choice but to embrace the challenge.

“We have such a resilient group here and everyone still believes that we can do this,” Bo Horvat said. “We should. We’ve proven it all year. Every time we’ve been counted out or down, we’ve found a way to overcome that. We have a great opportunity on Saturday, it starts with getting the win and going from there.

For the record, the Islanders are one of the four teams to execute a reverse sweep in league history, as they overcame a 3-0 deficit and won the series against the Penguins in the second round of the 1975 playoffs.