Islanders 3 Keys To Forcing a Game Seven

Here are our three keys for the New York Islanders on Friday night to force a Game Seven in Raleigh.

Like on Tuesday night, the New York Islanders' backs are against the wall as they trail the Carolina Hurricanes three games to two. The difference now is that the Islanders try to stave off elimination on home ice, which does impact how head coach Lane Lambert coaches this game. 

Here are our three keys to the Islanders forcing a Game Seven in Raleigh:

In Raleigh, Rod Brind'Amour -- like every home team -- had last change, which meant he could match up his Jordan Staal line with whoever Lane Lambert threw out there.

For most of this series, Staal has been out there against Mathew Barzal, but Lambert's breakup of Barzal and Bo Horvat early on Wednesday made Brind'Amour have to think a bit more.

For most of Game Five, which the Islanders won 3 -2 to force Game Six, Staal was out there against Horvat. 

At Thursday's practice, Lambert reunited Barzal and Horvat, with Anders Lee on the wing, and that makes sense given that on home ice, Lambert dictates the matchup. 

Now he has to use that to his advantage. 

The Hurricanes have two shutdown defense pairings, in Jaccob Slavin & Brent Burns, followed by Brady Skjei & Brett Pesce. Lambert should be attacking the defense pairing of Shayne Gostisbehere and Jalen Chatfield.

And any chance Lambert can get Barzal away from Staal, he should and will. 

“It’s gotta be showtime tomorrow night for him. He needs that signature game,” an NHL scout told The Hockey News.

It's taken a bit for Barzal to find his game after missing 23 games before the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but he's progressing.

READ MORE: Islanders Barzal Finding His Groove Five Playoff Games In

On Tuesday, he scored the eventual game-winning goal via an odd-man rush snipe, and it's time for him to have that signature game, signature moment. 

And the only way that will happen is if Lambert wins the matchup game, which he should. 

One of the biggest issues this series for the Islanders has been crossing lines after whistles, awarding a dangerous Hurricanes power play plenty of opportunities to burn them. 

After taking a few undisciplined penalties in their Game Four loss last Sunday, the Islanders cleaned up their act Tuesday night. 

READ MORE: Islanders Lack of Discipline Reverses Momentum in Game 4 Defeat

Although they took four trips to the penalty box, undisciplined penalties, they were not. And the Islanders penalty kill did its job -- one offside challenge wiping a goal off the board -- as all four were killed off. 

In both of the Islanders' two wins this series, their kill has gone a perfect 8-for-8. 

In the three losses, the Islanders have allowed five power-play goals on 15 Carolina opportunities (33 percent). 

Friday night has to be one of those nights where the penalty kill, led by an elite Ilya Sorokin, bails out the team. 

Lane Lambert had no issue going to his threesome of Matt Martin, Casey Cizikas, and Cal Clutterbuck often in Tuesday night's win, despite their struggles.

The identity line played the second-most minutes behind Brock Nelson's line, getting outshot 4-1, and seemed to be struggling on most shifts. Lambert used them often due to matchups, and despite their struggles, the Hurricanes did not score a goal while they were on the ice.

Credit goes to Sorokin, but some should go to the threesome for doing everything they could in their hefty workload. 

Cal Clutterbuck, who has struggled the most out of this threesome, still found a way to be effective with the body on Tuesday, laying six hits, the line with 10 hits total. 

But what we didn't see enough from them was their usual forecheck. Now, that had a lot to do with the Hurricanes allowing very little space in the neutral zone, where all New York could do most times was dump and change rather than dump and chase. 

“I think the fourth line needs to gain more possession time in the offensive zone. Losing it too often,” another NHL scout told THN. “They need to wear down whoever is on the ice against them. Physically, by hitting cleanly and fitness wise but having them chase in the Carolina defensive zone for prolonged periods of time.”

Friday night, with the deafening crowd behind them, one would think the Islanders, especially this fourth line, will have an extra boost as each hit will provide more cheers.

This Hurricane's team has already won on UBS Arena ice, and they aren't going to just fold, so the Islanders need to continue to wear them down with forechecking and finishing hits while not crossing that line. 

The New York Islanders host the Carolina Hurricanes for Games Six at 7 PM ET Friday night. The Islanders did not skate Friday morning after a full practice Thursday. 

Here were the Islanders lines:

Anders Lee-Bo Horvat-Mathew Barzal
Pierre Engvall-Brock Nelson-Kyle Palmieri
Zach Parise-Jean-Gabriel Pageau-Hudson Fasching
Matt Martin-Casey Cizikas-Cal Clutterbuck

Adam Pelech-Ryan Pulock
Sebastian Aho-Scott Mayfield
Alexander Romanov-Noah Dobson

Ilya Sorokin
Semyon Varlamov

Ilya Sorokin was in the starter's crease as he likely gets the nod. He's coming off his strongest start of the series where he stopped 34 of 36 in what was an elite performance. 

Frederik Andersen returned to the starter's crease at Carolina Hurricanes practice, with head coach Rod Brind'Amour sharing that Andersen could get the start.

Antti Raanta has played all five games thus far and despite getting the wins, seems to be wearing down a bit. 

Game Six will be available locally on MSGSN, with pre-game covering starting at 6:30 PM ET with Alan Fuehring and Thomas Hickey. Naational coverage is on TBS,