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RALEIGH, N.C. — Jean-Gabriel Pageau missed just one game with a lower-body injury, so affixing a “finally” to his return in Monday’s Game 2 against Carolina would be incorrect as a matter of the English language.
But it did feel that way as Pageau took the ice for warm-ups on Monday at PNC Arena and skated in the middle of the third line with Anders Lee and Pierre Engvall.
The magnitude of the postseason does have a way of warping time.
Pageau’s return meant that the Islanders rolled out a full-strength lineup for the 5-3 loss to Carolina in Game 2, with Simon Holmstrom moving up to play left wing on the second line and Hudson Fasching coming out as a healthy scratch, as opposed to taking faceoffs as a fourth-line center.
“I’m fine,” a disappointed Pageau said after the Islanders had let a 3-0 lead cave in on itself to go down 2-0 in the series. “If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t play.”
Pageau finished the night with 15:17 of ice time, 3:53 of which came on the penalty kill.
He was on the ice for all three Carolina goals in the third period.
Since Pageau plays both special teams, it meant that the power play and penalty kill could operate at full strength, and since he is the only righty center in the lineup, it meant that the Islanders were not operating with the same disadvantage in the dots as they had two nights previous.
“It’s massive,” Casey Cizikas said before the game. “He’s a leader on this team. He’s been that way since he’s gotten here. It’s always nice to get him back in the lineup.”
Kyle MacLean said that his stick was indeed high on a third-period goal that was waved off, and which would have extended the Islanders’ lead to 4-2.
“I think it was the right call, actually,” he said. “I didn’t really see it. My stick was in the air pretty high. It did hit my stick. It is what it is.”
That proved the Islanders’ last, best chance to put away the Hurricanes, who promptly returned to putting unending pressure on the Islanders’ zone.
“Probably gives you a little extra cushion,” MacLean said. “Probably makes a difference.”
