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RALEIGH, NC – New York Islanders coach Barry Trotz has asked if he needs to change goalkeepers with his team being eliminated before deciding to stay with the reliable Robin. Lehner as a starter.
By the time he made the change, the Islanders had lost two goals and were about to be eliminated from the playoffs.
The Carolina Hurricanes chased Lehner with two goals in 66 seconds early in the second half of Friday's 5-2 win, in the fourth game of the second-round series of the Eastern Conference. The change came more from Trotz's desperation to find something – no matter what – that could extend his team's season a little longer.
"It was a tough decision because in this series, the goalkeeper was not really the problem," said Trotz, who spoke about the change of switch before the game. "It was no longer the goal."
Lehner allowed three goals on 11 shots before Trotz surrendered to Thomas Greiss. But Greiss – who's playing in his first playoff game since 2016 – gave Justin Williams a half-time lead to put the Islanders in a 4-1 hole and turn the third period into a formality in a building filled with Raucous fans in the songs of "Sweep! Sweep!" on the last minutes.
Lehner and Greiss had teamed up to form a reliable duo all season for the Islanders, who had 196 goals, the lowest total of the season, and a record 11 shutouts.
Lehner recorded a .930 record-breaking percentage in one season, a good second in the NHL, equaling an average of 2.13 who ranked third in the league among goalies who played at least 21 games.
Lehner allowed six goals in a four-game sweep of Pittsburgh in the first round, but found himself in the defeat of three tight games to start the series with Carolina. That left him without a win in seven career games against the Hurricanes.
This time, after a 1-1 first half, the Hurricanes qualified for a perfectly executed bang-bang-bang. Teuvo Teravainen was alone on the right for a score of 2:11.
A little more than a minute later, Greg McKegg took a free rebound under Lehner and in the net for a 3-1 lead, ending the goalie's night.
"We just got a punch in the nose, and I was looking for a spark," Trotz said, adding that he was trying to find a way to "shut up."
Lehner said that he felt good and that he should start although Trotz had refused to announce a departure, but Trotz said he was not going to give the Hurricanes a chance to prepare. Lehner did not regret Trotz's decision to attract him, claiming that the Hurricanes "came flying" in the second half and called Trotz "the best coach in the league".
"It's hockey, I do not take it as personal," Lehner said. "I think that they came out very hot [in the second]. I think in the first period, I saw six shots, but they were all in front of me. I felt as if I had done very good backups early in the second, but they scored two very good goals. "
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