Captain Anders Lee collected a goal and two assists to lift the New York Islanders to a 5-4 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday in Raleigh, N.C.
New York’s Brock Nelson, Bo Horvat and defenseman Mike Reilly each recorded a goal and an assist and defenseman Sebastian Aho also scored. Kyle Palmieri and Mathew Barzal notched two assists apiece and Ilya Sorokin made 36 saves for the Islanders, who improved to 11-2-6 in their past 19 games.
Carolina’s Teuvo Teravainen scored a goal for the second time in as many games and Sebastian Aho and Stefan Noesen each converted on the power play. Defenseman Jaccob Slavin also scored and Pyotr Kochetkov turned aside 23 shots for the Hurricanes, who saw their six-game point streak come to an end (3-0-3).
Carolina’s Martin Necas appeared to forge a tie at 5-5 with 6:11 remaining in the third period, but officials deemed he used a distinct kicking motion to send the puck into the net.
New York’s Aho and Teravainen scored 63 seconds apart in the first before Nelson tallied to give the Islanders a 2-1 lead with 5:17 remaining in the period. Nelson’s turnaround shot from the slot beat Kochetkov for his team-leading 16th goal of the season and fourth in his past five games.
Horvat doubled the advantage nearly four minutes later. His one-timer from the right circle handcuffed Kochetkov for his 14th goal of the season and eighth in his past 12 games.
Carolina’s Aho scored from the left circle to halve the deficit 59 seconds into the second period. The goal was his 13th of the season, pulling him even with Teravainen for the team lead.
Reilly made the Hurricanes pay for a turnover at neutral ice by unleashing a drive from the point to restore the Islanders’ two-goal advantage at 4-2 with 5:48 remaining in the second period.
Slavin’s blast from the point brought Carolina back within a goal at 1:56 of the third period before an unmarked Lee responded just under two minutes later. Noesen cleaned up a rebound to trim New York’s lead to 5-4 at 9:17, however, the Hurricanes failed to net the equalizer.
–Field Level Media
