Islanders' Game 2 plan: Drive to net more, create traffic in front of Hurricanes' Frederik Andersen

RALEIGH, N.C. — Playoff series are all about game-to-game adjustments, and the Islanders clearly have two objectives heading into Monday night’s Game 2 against the Hurricanes at PNC Arena.

First, get more traffic to the crease, create rebound opportunities and generally make life tougher for goalie Frederik Andersen, who stopped 33 shots in the Hurricanes’ 3-1 win in Game 1 on Saturday. (Or maybe it will be Pyotr Kochetkov; coach Rod Brind’Amour would not confirm who will start in goal after the Hurricanes practiced Sunday.)

Two, be mindful that the Hurricanes, who had the NHL’s second-ranked power play and are facing an Islanders penalty kill that was last in the league, are looking to draw penalties and went to the ice quite easily in Game 1.

“I’m not going to go there,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said during Sunday’s media availability at the team’s hotel as the Islanders did not practice. “I appreciate your question. It’s up to the referees to make those calls. At the same time, we have enough to worry about, so we’ll worry about us. We need to continue to play well in those one-on-one battles. That’s key against that team.”

Hurricanes defenseman Brady Skjei fell suspiciously and drew an offensive-zone holding call against Anders Lee at 1:22 of the first period, which led to Evgeny Kuznetsov’s power-play goal 13 seconds later. Kyle Palmieri’s tap on Seth Jarvis drew an exaggerated flop at 13:27 of the third period with the Islanders trailing 2-1. The Islanders’ penalty kill went 2-for-3, allowing only three shots.

“Reffing is different every night,” Brock Nelson said. “You just try to go out there and play hard. Playoffs are a different animal. Emotions are high. It’s physical. We’d like to draw penalties as well, and you do so just by playing hard, moving your feet, tiring guys out.”

The Islanders’ 19th-ranked power play went 0-for-2 with four shots against the Hurricanes’ top-ranked penalty kill.

“It’s probably the most aggressive team I’ve seen,” Roy said.

The Islanders had better chances skating five-on-five — Andersen made a miraculous sprawling glove save on Noah Dobson’s point-blank shot in the third period— but had it confirmed how tough it will be to score in this series.

“We’re going to talk about him today,” Roy said of Andersen. “We should have maybe talked more about him before. We need traffic in front of the net. There might not be tic-tac-toe kind of goals. It might be more like we need to bring the puck to the net and jam.”

“He’s a big guy and he covers a lot of net,” Mathew Barzal said of the 6-4, 238-pound Andersen.

Barzal also had a great chance from the slot that Andersen smothered in the second period.

“I had a good look there in front last night. I didn’t see a ton of net,” Barzal said. “Just getting to the net, getting to the paint. We scored that first goal getting traffic. Making it tough on him to see the puck.”

Barzal and linemate Bo Horvat each took five shots. Nelson’s second line with Palmieri and Hudson Fasching generated six shots.

“Trying to create turnovers and being able to attack a bit more will be a focal point for sure,” Nelson said. “You want to generate a little bit more pressure and zone time and have that guy at the net front open things up and create some chances.”

Notes & quotes: Roy said third-line center Jean-Gabriel Pageau (lower body, day-to-day), who missed Game 1, is improving. “Certainly a good chance for him to play [Monday],” Roy said .  .  . Hurricanes right wing Jesper Fast (upper body) did not practice with the team on Sunday after sitting out Game 1.

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.