Rod Brind’Amour didn’t leave much to interpretation on Friday night.

“The power play cost us the game,” the Hurricanes head coach said after his team lost Game 3 of its first-round playoff series to the Islanders, 5-1. “That was clear.”

Since Carolina scored on its first two power plays of the series, the Islanders have killed off 11 of the ensuing 12 penalties, the one exception being a fluky own-goal that took a bad bounce off Sebastian Aho’s stick during Game 2.

Especially given their own struggles on the power play, which is 2-for-27 dating back to March 24, the more the Islanders can make this first-round series about five-on-five play, the better. And that means doing everything they can on the penalty kill.

“It’s just buying into what we need to do,” Casey Cizikas said following Game 2. “Everybody has a job and we rely on each other to be out there in the right spots, and that’s the biggest thing so far.”

The penalty kill has been a strength all season for the Islanders, who ranked ninth in the league at four-on-five. After an initial blemish in Game 1, they’ve turned it into a strength in this first-round series.

“I didn’t even think we were that bad in Game 1,” Adam Pelech said. “The first goal happened quick and then the second one was a tip. We definitely made some small adjustments and we’ve been doing better. So I think we just have to continue to adjust to what they’re doing and continue to improve.”

Ahead of  Game 4 on Sunday afternoon, in which the Islanders will have a chance to pull even in the series, Brind’Amour said his team got rushed on the power play, deviating from their plans too easily.

“It’s not letting it run your sets,” Brind’Amour told reporters. “We just take the first chance we can and put it to the net. But we’re trying to run a set and that’s why [it looks like] we’re not on the same page there.

“I think [the intentions] are all good, everybody’s trying to do the right things. I think we try a little too hard sometimes in that area because we know how important it is. We know that’s our chance to win the game.”

Carolina goaltender Antti Raanta is undefeated in his postseason career at home (8-0), but winless on the road (0-7). Brind’Amour did not name a starter Saturday for Game 4, though Frederik Andersen — the likely choice if he were to go away from Raanta — has been dealing with an illness and did not dress for Game 3.