After Game 4 double-OT loss, Hurricanes must seize next chance to close out Islanders

Whatever else happened, the opportunity was there. Jesperi Kotkaniemi was denied an empty net by the shaft of Semyon Varlamov’s stick. Jordan Staal, set loose down Broadway by Teuvo Teravainen, was stopped moments before the Carolina Hurricanes were forced to confront the reality of a Game 5 they didn’t want to play.

These are the fine margins of the postseason, of overtime and multiple overtimes especially, and there’s no less margin for error than when trying to finish up a sweep.

Which the Hurricanes could not.

“Overtime, there’s not going to be too many chances, so when you get a little chance you always hope of course to go in,” Teravainen said. “Could have gone either way, good battle, it hurts but we’ll move on.”

So it’s back to Raleigh on Tuesday after Mat Barzal deflected Robert Bortuzzo’s shot past Frederik Andersen 84 seconds into the second overtime Saturday, giving the New York Islanders a 3-2 win in Game 4 and leaving the Hurricanes with two days of what-ifs.

What if they had been able to finish either of those gilt-edged chances at the end of the first overtime and beginning of the second. What if they had been able to score a single even-strength goal in more than 71 minutes of five-on-five hockey. What if they had been anywhere close to their usual standards in the faceoff circle, where they won a dismal 32 percent — a full 20 percent lower than their regular-season average. What if, what if, what if.

The power play, which scored early in the first period and late in the third, bailed the Hurricanes out on offense. But the reality is, they have yet to play a complete game in this series, even if this was the first time it really came back to bite them, and if they want to avoid another trip back up here — which they most certainly, desperately do — they’re going to have to finish some of the chances they generate at even strength.

But that’s an old story, isn’t it?

Doing better on faceoffs, especially in the offensive zone, would go a long way toward that. The Hurricanes aren’t built to play on their heels, but that’s where they found themselves far too often Saturday night. Jordan Staal, at 11-for-25, was the medalist. Jesperi Kotkaniemi was 5-for-13. Sebastian Aho was 3-for-19. Evgeny Kuznetsov was 1-for-8.

It’s hard enough to eliminate a team, let alone sweep one. It’s near impossible to do it chasing the puck all night.

“Throughout the lineup at center, we’ve got to be better,” Staal said. “Even tonight, if we won even a part of those, we’d have a better chance of winning that game. It wasn’t great. We’ll look at it and be better.”

And when the Hurricanes did go on a run of faceoff wins late in regulation, that’s when they applied the most consistent pressure of the game, taking that momentum into the first overtime.

“Our game is exactly that, having the puck and playing in their end and putting on pressure,” Staal said. “But you have to start with the puck.”

Faceoffs weren’t a problem in the first two games, at home, and the Hurricanes were a disappointing but not catastrophic 40 percent in Game 3. This might not have been too much to overcome, but the Islanders ended up getting the bounce the Hurricanes didn’t to stay alive and send the series back to Raleigh.

The puck caromed out to Bortuzzo at the blue line, and Barzal got a piece of his shot, and the Islanders finally had something to celebrate and the Hurricanes were left to regroup.

“We had a couple glorious ones in overtime,” Brind’Amour said. “KK right in front, and it goes off the knob of (Varlamov’s) stick. It’s a game of inches sometimes. If that goes in we’re having a different conversation.”

But that’s not the conversation we’re having. The Hurricanes couldn’t close this out on the road. They get another chance to close it out at home. That’s one chance they have to finish.

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