Isles at Canes

Isles trail 5-0 after second period

After a poor first period, the Islanders offered no response in the second, giving up two more goals in the middle frame.

The fourth goal of the game was the true back-breaker when DiPietro couldn't cover up the puck and it squirted out to Brandon Sutter at the left post.

Sutter may have impeded DiPietro on the fifth goal, but the Canes take a 5-0 lead from Jiri Plisty.

To make things worse, Tlisty's stick caught defenseman Radek Martinek in the face on the follow-through. No update on the veteran d-man yet

Isles trail 3-0 after first period

Once again the Islanders have a rough first period and they trail 3-0 as a result. Lots of defensive breakdowns and poor play in front of DiPietro that first frame.

DiPietro collided with Tavares after a play behind the net and couldn't scramble back in time to stop Joe Corvo's point shot--the first goal at RBC Center this season-- at 10:12.

Center Jon Matsumoto scored his first NHL goal in his second game, converting a nice feed from Sergei Samsonov  for a 2-0 lead and Eric Staal's one-timer beat DiPietro to put the Isles in a 3-0 hole at 18:51.

***

Isles have dropped the last four games; Canes have lost the last two.

Carolina has also yet to score at the RBC Center this season.

Rick DiPietro starts in net tonight for the Islanders, looking to bounce back from the team's 6-1 loss to Philly Saturday.

Cam Ward in goal tonight for Carolina; Ward as a 10-2-1 record with 2.28 GAA in 14 career games against the Islanders.