The New York Islanders are on the hunt for their first Stanley Cup since 1983. However, that hunt got off on the wrong foot on Saturday evening. Anders Lee and his team fell to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 of the tournament’s opening round. However, Lee feels as if his team’s play wasn’t necessarily lacking.
Lee recognized the disappointment in losing the first game when speaking with the media. And he mentioned that his team has to move on given the nature of the series. Still, he believes his team played a fine game of hockey on Saturday evening. Even if things didn’t go their way in the end.
“We’ll build off this. That’s all you can do. It’s a series,” Lee said, via The Hockey News. “It’s tough to drop the first one, but it’s how we respond, it’s how we take this, how we feel about ourselves. I thought we played a solid hockey game.”
Islanders agree with Anders Lee
Anders Lee had his sentiments echoed by some members of the Islanders. Veteran forward Kyle Palmieri agreed with his captain about the way New York played against the Hurricanes. “It was pretty solid. It could have went either way,” Palmieri told The Hockey News. “We did a lot of good things. It was a pretty tight, tight defensive game.”
The Islanders had their chances in Game 1. In fact, Palmieri nearly tied the game 2-2 in the third period. And he was stopped on a 2-on-1 during the second period. Star forwards Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat both had chances on one-time shots. However, they failed to get past Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen.
Overall, the game could have gone New York’s way. They had their chances, but for one reason or another, they could not get anything past Andersen on Saturday night. In the end, it just slipped through their grasp.
“We definitely had a couple of good looks, especially in the third,” defenseman Noah Dobson said, via The Hockey News. “It’s going to be tight out there all series. We just have to find a way to bear down on those good looks.”
New York looks to tie series with Hurricanes
The Islanders and Hurricanes met in the Stanley Cup Playoffs just last season. And that series was absolutely dominated by Carolina. The series went to six games, but the Hurricanes got the best of the Islanders at nearly every turn. New York has to avoid this outcome coming up in Game 2.
If New York continues to get their chances, they have a good chance at avoiding going down 2-0 in the series. They have confidence that their current game plan can work. It’s all about finishing the chances they have given themselves and putting Carolina on the back foot.
“I’m encouraged because I thought we played a really solid game. We did a lot of good things out there. It was a hard-fought game, but we had our chances, and I’m frustrated because we had our chances,” head coach Patrick Roy said, via The Hockey News.
Roy mentioned his team’s resiliency throughout the 2023-24 NHL season. The Hockey Hall of Famer wanted to see some of that resiliency shine through against the Hurricanes. That said, he remains confident things can get back on track in Game 2.
The Islanders have their chance to tie the series once again on Monday. New York remains in Carolina as they hope to split the series with the Hurricanes before returning home. Let’s see if Anders Lee and his team can build off this loss in Game 2.
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