Islanders’ playoff chances take a hit with loss in Carolina

RALEIGH, N.C. – The game may wind up mirroring the Islanders’ season as a whole: Competitive but not quite good enough, partially because they got hurt on special teams.

The Islanders scrapped through 60 minutes but lost to the Hurricanes, 6-4, on Sunday at Lenovo Center. It marked their fifth straight defeat (0-3-2) and followed Saturday’s 5-3 loss in Tampa, Fla. as they rallied for three, third-period goals after spotting the playoff-bound Lightning a four-goal edge.

The Islanders went 1-for-5 on the power play – the Hurricanes were 1-for-4 – but looked disorganized on a four-minute chance late in the second period that yielded a go-ahead shorthanded goal to the Hurricanes.

The Islanders (32-31-10) remain three points behind the Canadiens for the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot, three points behind the Rangers, who have played one extra game, and one point behind the Blue Jackets.

Pierre Engvall notched his first career two-goal game and Marcus Hogberg made 24 saves for the Islanders while Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 27 shots for the Hurricanes (45-24-4), who improved to 29-8-1 at home.

Anders Lee tapped in Bo Horvat’s cross-ice feed to the crease to tie it at 4-4 at 4:05 of the third period. It was Lee’s 287th career goal, tying him with Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter for sixth all-time in team history.

But Dmitry Orlov’s shot from the blue line snuck through traffic as the Hurricanes regained a one-goal lead at 9:19.

The Islanders’ schedule remains grueling as they return to UBS Arena to open a three-game homestand with a rematch against the Lightning on Tuesday night. The playoff-bound Wild visit on Friday before the Islanders host the conference-leading Capitals on Sunday.

Engvall’s second goal as he kept the puck and lifted a shot off an odd-man rush was the Islanders’ third straight as they took their only lead at 1:37 of the second period. But Sebastian Aho’s power-play one-timer at 8:35 after Maxim Tsyplakov took a bad offensive-zone hooking penalty tied it at 3-3 and Seth Jarvis’ shorthanded riser with defenseman Jalen Chatfield in the box for four minutes for cutting defenseman Alexander Romanov with a high stick put the Hurricanes ahead 4-3 at 17:29 of the second period.

Jarvis added a second goal at 17:14 of the third period to clinch it.

The Hurricanes tallied twice within 13 seconds in the first period to open the scoring, with Mark Jankowski beating the defense up ice to deposit Eric Robinson’s feed at 4:41 and Jordan Martinook’s backhanded feed from behind the crease finding Logan Stankoven open at the post at 4:54.

But Engvall beat Kochetkov underneath his glove off the rush at 6:10 and Kyle Palmieri’s power-play goal after knocking the puck down with his glove to Kochetkov’s right tied it at 2-2 at 11:27.

Notes & quotes: The Islanders scored power-play goals in successive games for just the second time this season, with both times coming this month… Matt Martin and defensemen Scott Mayfield, Mike Reilly and Scott Perunovich remained healthy scratches.