ELMONT, N.Y. — Plenty went into the Islanders’ latest loss as their season continues to spiral. But in a twisted sign of their recent misfortunes, they had the wrong Sebastian Aho on Saturday night.
The Hurricanes center scored the winner and added a second goal, both times at the expense of the Islanders defenseman with the same name. The Islanders lost, 5-2, when Aho completed his hat trick with an empty-netter at the end.
The Metropolitan Division leaders scored the victory with around 60 former Islanders in attendance for Alumni Weekend, listening to the crowd intermittently boo the home club.
The Islanders (23-20-5), barely clinging to the ninth spot in the Eastern Conference, erased an early two-goal deficit with two first-period goals within one minute, 40 seconds. But they still lost their fourth straight and had their skid extend to 1-5-3. They were 0 for 2 on the power play, leaving them in a 3-for-54 drought.
Ilya Sorokin made 22 saves. Frederik Andersen stopped 26 shots for the Hurricanes (29-9-8), who are on a 4-0-1 run.
The Hurricanes’ Aho extended the lead to 4-2 at 7:09 of the third period, getting to the crease after the Islanders’ Aho turned the puck over in the defensive zone.
Saturday marked the 12th game since right wing Oliver Wahlstrom was lost indefinitely off the Islanders’ top line with a lower-body injury.
In that span, Mathew Barzal, the team’s top playmaker who the organization committed to with an eight-year, $73.2 million extension that starts next season, has started games on nine different line combinations. Eight different players have started on the center’s wings and Barzal himself started one game on wing instead of his usual spot in the middle.
He had Casey Cizikas, usually the fourth-line center, on his right wing against the Hurricanes. Barzal, who has now gone seven games without a point after a one-game absence with a lower-body injury, was asked whether it’s up to him or those joining his line to make adjustments in their game.
“I’m not really sure,” Barzal, a unique, skilled skater who does best with the puck on his stick and his linemates finding holes in the defense, told Newsday. “It’s just hard to find chemistry with anybody when every other game it’s a new line. It is what it is. We’ve had some injury troubles. Guys have gone down.”
The Hurricanes scored twice in the opening 3:52 against the slow-starting hosts.
Jordan Staal deflected defenseman Jalen Chatfield’s shot past Sorokin — spectacular in making 42 saves in Thursday night’s 3-2 overtime road loss to the Sabres as it was revealed he was voted an NHL All-Star for the first time — just 44 seconds into the first period. Staal’s backhand feed off the rush then set up Jesper Fast at the crease to make it 2-0 at 3:52, prompting Islanders coach Lane Lambert to use his timeout with the crowd’s booing becoming louder.
It took a bit, but the Islanders finally perked up.
Simon Holmstrom, the 23rd overall pick in 2019 who has impressed the Islanders with his responsible defensive play but left them wanting more offensively, showed a glimpse into his offensive potential as he skated the puck over the blue line and through the slot before rifling a wrist shot past Andersen to cut the deficit to 2-1 at 14:02.
All-Star Brock Nelson’s unassisted wrapround tied it at 2-2 at 15:42 and Andersen had to make a strong save on Zach Parise’s redirection of defenseman Noah Dobson’s feed in the closing seconds of the first period to keep the game tied.
Instead, it was the Hurricanes who took a 3-2 lead at 16:40 of the second period when a shot by their Aho deflected in off the skate of the Islanders’ Aho.
