RALEIGH, N.C. — Jean-Gabriel Pageau missed just one game with a lower-body injury, so it would be a misnomer in the English language to add “finally” to his return for Monday’s Game 2 against Carolina.
But it felt that way Monday at PNC Arena when Pageau took to the ice for warmups and skated in the middle of the third line with Anders Lee and Pierre Engvall.
The scale of the postseason has a way of distorting time.
Pageau’s return means the Islanders were at full strength in their 5-3 loss to Carolina in Game 2, with Simon Holmstrom moving up to the second-string left wing position and reversing the field. Hudson Fassing entered the game as a healthy scratch. He will take part in faceoffs as the fourth-row center.
“I’m fine,” a disappointed Pageau said after the Islanders gave up a 3-0 lead and dropped the series 2-0. “If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have played.”
Pageau finished the night with 15 minutes, 17 seconds of ice time, 3 minutes and 53 seconds of which were recorded on the penalty kill.
He was on the ice for all three of Carolina’s goals in the third period.
Pageau plays on both special teams, meaning the power play and penalty kill could be at full capacity, and since he is the only right-handed center in the lineup, the Islanders That meant they weren’t working in the same unfavorable conditions as they had been two nights before.
“It’s huge,” Casey Cizikas said before the game. “He’s a leader on this team. He’s been that way ever since he got here. It’s always nice to have him back in the lineup.”
Kyle McClain said the third-period goal was certainly high, but would have been waved off and extended the Islanders’ lead to 4-2.
“Actually, I think it was the right decision,” he said. “I really wasn’t looking. My stick was pretty high in the air. It hit my stick. That’s reality.”
This was the Islanders’ last and best chance to defeat the Hurricanes, but the Hurricanes immediately began applying endless pressure on the Islanders’ zone.
“It probably gives us a little bit more cushion,” MacLean said. “Maybe it will make a difference.”
