RALEIGH, N.C. — Maybe don’t book your playoff tickets just yet.

The Islanders still hold the first wild-card spot.

They still should make it.

The odds still favor them.

But over a weekend back-to-back when winning one game would have made them a virtual lock, the Islanders instead not only dropped both, but got badly outplayed twice.

That Sunday’s edition came against a potential first-round opponent in Carolina is the icing on the cake, as the Hurricanes beat the Islanders 2-1 in a game that was only that close because of goalie Ilya Sorokin’s brilliance (33 saves).

It’s not just that the Islanders lost two straight, though. It’s how they lost.

In some ways, this was a worse game than the previous night’s 5-0 loss to the Lightning. At least in that one, the Islanders outshot Tampa.

In this one, the PNC Arena ice was tilted from puck drop.

The Islanders repeatedly mishandled the puck in their own zone, giving Carolina high-danger chances on a platter and, not for the first time this season, having no answer whatsoever for the Hurricanes’ high-intensity forecheck.

Most damning, in Game 78 of 82, the Islanders did not seem to know where their own teammates were, resulting in constantly misplaced passes, especially in the defensive zone.

Despite Carolina doubling the Islanders up in shots on net through the first 40 minutes, the game was tied at one going into the third, courtesy of Sorokin’s play.

It took less than three minutes of the final period for Carolina to make the Islanders pay.

Jordan Martinook’s wrist shot beat Sorokin on a two-on-one rush, leaving the Islanders 17:29 to regain some offensive momentum and tie the game.

Even when given their second power play of the game, as Carolina’s Sebastian Aho went off for cross-checking with 4:36 to go in the match, the Islanders could not capitalize.

Bo Horvat got the lone shot on net over the two-minute span with Frederik Andersen successfully fighting it off.

Sorokin was the only thing standing between the Islanders and a blowout.

It’s no secret that he will be the biggest factor to the Islanders winning, or competing in, any playoff series.

That’s not going to change with four games left in the season.

But he needs more support than he got this weekend.

Otherwise, it will be a quick exit for the Islanders in the playoffs — if they do get that far.

The sole moment of hope for the Islanders came when they managed to take a lead late in the first period when Pierre Engvall found Jean-Gabriel Pageau for a rush one-timer at 17:33 of the period.

Carolina would get it back on a rare error from Sorokin, when Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s shot trickled through the netminder at 9:27 of the second.

Even with the uncharacteristic mistake, this wasn’t a night when there was any way to reasonably blame the goaltender.

Making his second start in 23 hours after getting pulled in Tampa, Sorokin was once again hung out to dry.

To get to the playoffs, the Islanders need to score — they have done so just three times in their last three games.

More than that, they need to generate sustained momentum offensively, a task that seems just about impossible when the power play is a black hole, having scored just five times since Mathew Barzal got hurt, and when even breaking out of their own zone looks as hard as it did on Sunday.

Whatever the standings say, these are non-negotiable characteristics of winning hockey.

The playoff odds are only good because the Islanders have earned their way to that.

They can just as easily burn away their chances, and if the Panthers beat Buffalo on Tuesday, they will move into a tie for the first wild-card spot on points.

Of the three teams with a serious chance to take the two wild-card spots, the Islanders are still in the best position. That is reason enough not to hit the panic button yet.

But if the Islanders keep playing like this, that time will come sooner than anyone would like.