Update: Things didn’t really get better for the Islanders, as the Hurricanes completed the sweep with a 5-2 win in Game 4.
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Quite a few people thought Thomas Greiss should play in Game 4, but the New York Islanders certainly didn’t want it to happen this way.
After the Islanders and Hurricanes locked things up 1-1 through the first period on Friday, Carolina got off to a hot start in the second period, scoring two goals in a short burst (2:11 and 3:17 into the middle frame), putting the Islanders down 3-1 while they’re at the brink of elimination. And it got worse from there.
That was enough to end Robin Lehner’s night. It’s fair to say that Barry Trotz probably replaced Lehner to try to spark a comeback and send a message to his own team, as much as any fault of Lehner’s own.
Now, did Lehner look a little tired at times lately? That’s for others to say, and you could argue that there might be a little bit of confirmation bias taking place in such discussions.
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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.