Things look bleak for the New York Islanders.

After putting together a terrific effort in front of a raucous crowd in Game 3, the Isles capitulated against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 4 and now have their backs officially against the wall.

Carolina leads the series, 3-1, and has home-ice advantage for Game 5 (and Game 7, if necessary). 

The Hurricanes are -156 favorites to win Game 5 and are -1400 to win the best-of-7 series. 

Can the Isles upset the odds on Tuesday night and keep their season alive?

(7 p.m. ET. ESPN)

Although this their first elimination game of this series, this is not the first time the Islanders have had their backs against the wall this season.

The Isles basically had to win two of every three games down the stretch to earn a playoff spot and were in a lose-and-go-home situation against the Montreal Canadiens in their regular season finale. 

The Hurricanes are a much better team than the Canadiens, but the point is that this situation will be nothing new for the Isles. 

In addition to their experience, the Isles can also point to their play at 5-on-5 as a reason for believing that they can mount some sort of comeback in this series.

Although they’ve been abysmal on special teams, the Islanders have outscored Carolina, 8-6, at even strength and have created 10 more high-danger scoring chances at 5-on-5 than the Canes, who were the league-leaders in expected goals rate and high-danger chance percentage at 5-on-5 in the regular season.

The problem is that, for all their good work at 5-on-5, the Isles have been an unmitigated disaster at special teams.

The Isles had the second-worst power play during the regular season, so it’s no surprise that they’re struggling to get anything done with the man advantage.

They’re also struggling on the penalty kill against a Carolina team that wasn’t good on the power play, either.

Carolina is operating at 26.3% on the PP in this series. 

While they couldn’t count on winning the special teams battle, the Isles will feel a bit surprised that they are not getting the better goaltending in this series.

Ilya Sorokin is one of the best goalies in the NHL and was supposed to be the A-side in this matchup against Antti Raanta, but it’s the Hurricanes goalie who has been the more steady presence.

That isn’t to say that Sorokin has been bad — he’s been solid — but he hasn’t been the force of nature the Islanders were hoping for — yet. 

Even though Raanta has been great and Sorokin has been just good, the Islanders should still feel confident that their franchise goaltender could be a difference-maker for them on a game-by-game basis.

If Sorokin does find his world-beating form and the Isles can stay disciplined, they’re a live underdog in the first elimination game of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Islanders vs. Hurricanes pick: Islanders +130 (FanDuel)