One game can change the narrative of a playoff series, and it is now the Hurricanes looking for an answer, needing to break a power play drought and wondering about a road losing streak in the postseason as the Islanders try to hold onto momentum in Game 4 of their first-round series on Sunday afternoon.

The operative stat of the first three games is 7-3 — the margin by which the Islanders lead Carolina at five-on-five over 142:34.

That is inflated by an outburst of scoring late in their 5-1 3 victory in Game 3, but it tracks with the eye test, as the Islanders have looked more physical and better-equipped at five-on-five.

“I guess we’re a team who needs to play a certain way to be successful, it’s not necessarily run-and-gun offense,” Adam Pelech said Saturday, when the Islanders were off from practice. “It’s defending hard, being physical, getting great goaltending. Those are things that are extremely important in the playoffs. I guess it’s something we focus on a regular basis.”

The case for the Islanders making a run come playoff time always came down to this: Skill and speed win hockey games in the regular season.

Good old-fashioned brute force matters more in the playoffs.

Through three games of testing that theory, the Islanders trail 2-1 in the series, but momentum has shifted their way and they feel they are slowly, but surely, wearing the Hurricanes down.

After out-hitting Carolina 54-28 in Game 2, the Islanders did so 43-28 in Game 3 according to the official count.

They embrace the ugly, knowing it is their path to pulling off a first-round upset.

“I don’t know if it’s necessarily something to fall back on, but I think it just needs to be a staple in our game,” Pelech said. “We are a big, physical team, and especially in playoff hockey, it’s a big part of it. It’s always physical. When you play seven games in a row against a team, you need to try to wear them down. The physical play is a big part of it, and I think it will continue.”

More and more in each game, the Islanders have been grinding away at Carolina’s speed advantage.

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That’s all in the plan.

Much as the power-play issues have hung over the Islanders — though Kyle Palmieri’s go-ahead goal at the tail end of Derek Stepan’s tripping penalty in Game 3 is a weight off their shoulders — they have proven an ability to beat Carolina at five-on-five.

That is not the whole game. But it is a sizable enough chunk to breed confidence.

“I think we’ve liked the way we play five-on-five,” Zach Parise said. “I think our breakouts have been good. One of their strengths is extended offensive zone shifts. We’ve been breaking out well and haven’t been giving them too much from that standpoint. Five-on-five, there’s a lot to like.”

For all that, there is still the reality of a 2-1 deficit in the series going into Sunday.

Under Rod Brind’Amour, the Hurricanes are 5-15 in road postseason games and have not won a road playoff match since June 3, 2021.

UBS Arena passed its first playoff test on Friday, the foundations shaking as the Islanders pulled away late in the third period.

“[The fans] brought it,” Ryan Pulock said Friday night. “They were prepared for this. It got us going. That’s what you needed, the home-ice advantage. You can feed off that.”

If that can happen again on Sunday, the Islanders will fly back into Raleigh with what will then be a best-of-three series firmly in their hands.