Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Petr Mrazek's status for Game 3 against the New York Islanders remains uncertain, though head coach Rod Brind'Amour expressed optimism on Monday.

"That's actually good news there," Brind'Amour said, but the head coach declined to expand further than ruling the goaltender day-to-day.

Mrazek exited Sunday's Game 2 victory over the New York Islanders in the second period with a lower-body injury. He was replaced by backup Curtis McElhinney with the Hurricanes trailing the Islanders 1-0. McElhinney turned aside all 17 shots he faced as the Hurricanes rallied to win the game 2-1 for a 2-0 series lead. Mrazek left the game six and a half minutes into the second frame, but appeared to be in discomfort minutes earlier after making a stop on Leo Komarov.

"I think Petr got hurt before the last little play there, so we kind of knew something was up," head coach Rod Brind'Amour said post-game on Sunday. "When he came to the bench, you could see that he was dejected. 

"He definitely wanted to be a part of this. Hopefully, it is not too serious."

Mrazek posted a 31-save shutout in Game 1 and has started all nine of the team's playoff games this spring. He has a .913 save percentage with a 2.22 goals-against average in the postseason.

The team recalled goalie Alex Nedeljkovic from the AHL's Charlotte Checkers on Monday.

Prior to entering Sunday's game, McElhinney had last played on April 6. He had a 20-11-2 record in the regular season with a .912 save percentage and a 2.58 GAA.

"Pretty hard to come off the bench and not face any shots for a period or so, and for him to come in, that's huge," Hurricanes forward Warren Foegele said of McElhinney. "Both our goalies this year have been unbelievable, and I'm not surprised to see [McElhinney] play like that. Both goalies have been tremendous, and they've both been able to answer the bell, and it's not easy coming in sitting on the bench so long. Heck of a job by [McElhinney] coming in cold."

Game 3 of the first-round series will take place on Wednesday in Carolina.