A big second period led the Carolina Hurricanes to a convincing 6-3 win over the New York Islanders on Saturday night in Raleigh.
The Carolina Hurricanes needed a big performance to take down the surging New York Islanders, and that’s what they got. They easily handled the visiting team and came out with a big 6-3 win.
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Scoring Summary
1st Period
CAR Goal (17:22) – Riley Nash (5), assisted by Jay McClement (7)
The Canes got the ball rolling late in the first period. The fourth line delivered a solid grinding shift, and it led to a give and go passing play from Nash to McClement and then back to Nash on the right circle, and he blasted one past Halak to make it 1-0.
2nd Period
CAR Goal (4:19) – Andrej Nestrasil (9), assisted by Noah Hanifin (10), Jordan Staal (20)
After cycling the puck around, Noah Hanifin put a shot on net from the point, and it deflected off of Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk and into the net.
CAR Goal (9:34) – Kris Versteeg (11), assisted by Phil Di Giuseppe (6), Jaccob Slavin (10)
The Hurricanes got the puck deep into the Islanders zone again, and the puck went back to Slavin who fed the puck to Di Giuseppe along the half wall. Di Giuseppe then rifled a beautiful pass across the ice and the through the Islander crease to Versteeg who put it past Halak to make it 3-0.
CAR Goal (10:54) – Andrej Nestrasil (10), assisted by Joakim Nordstrom (11), Jordan Staal (21)
The Hurricanes netted their third goal in just over 6:30 to make it 4-0. Nordstrom and Nestrasil walked in on a 2-on-1 rush, and Nordstrom sauced it over to Nestrasil who made no mistake and put it into the net.
NYI Goal (13:46) – John Tavares (21), assisted by Kyle Okposo (29)
The Isles bounced right back and and had answer for Carolina’s high octane offense. Tavares came in the zone and skated around the back of the net before handing it off to Okposo, and he quickly got it back and ripped it past Cam Ward.
NYI PPG (15:20) – Nick Leddy (4), assisted by John Tavares (24), Frans Nielsen (20)
New York cut the Carolina in half on a late second period powerplay. Tavares threw the puck back to Leddy at the point, and he ripped a long range slap shot that found its way past an apparently injured Cam Ward. Ward was replaced by Eddie Lack moments later.
CAR PPG (18:37) – Victor Rask (13), assisted by Elias Lindholm (17), Jeff Skinner (13)
The Hurricanes got a powerplay of their own moments later, and they made it count. Rask had a great chance in front, but it was a mis-hit. Luckily, the puck stayed on his stick as he drove the net and finessed the puck in around a sprawling Halak to make it 5-2.
CAR Goal (19:58) – Victor Rask (14), assisted by Phil Di Giuseppe (7)
Victor Rask netted his second goal in 1:21 to give the Canes a four-goal edge. Di Giuseppe threw the puck on net from the corner in the dying seconds of the period, and the puck careened to Rask who slammed it home just before the buzzer went off to cap off a seven-goal period.
3rd Period
NYI Goal (6:49) – Matt Martin (6), assisted by Casey Cizikas (13), Jonny Boychuk (12)
New York cut the Hurricane lead in half again in the third period. The Islanders came in on the rush with the puck on Cizikas’ stick. He dropped it off to Martin at the top of the slot, and he lofted a wrist shot top shelf past new Canes goalie Eddie Lack.
Three Stars
1st Star – Victor Rask, C (CAR) – 2 goals, +2, 3 shots, 16:27 TOI
2nd Star – Andrej Nestrasil, RW (CAR) – 1 goal, +1, 3 shots, 1 hit, 14:09 TOI
3rd Star – Jordan Staal, C (CAR) – 2 assists, +1, 1 shot, 4 hits, 18:25 TOI
Recap
The Carolina Hurricanes followed up a low scoring goalie duel on Friday against the Pittsburgh Penguins with a barn burner against the New York Islanders on Saturday.
Carolina dominated the first 20 minutes, outshooting the Isles 17-7 and taking a 1-0 lead, but things broke wide open in the second frame.
A combined seven goals were scored in period two, and five of them went to the Hurricanes. Victor Rask capped off the big period with a pair of goals in just 1:21, including a goal with just over a second left on the clock.
Carolina Hurricanes
A much more even third period led to some conservative hockey from Carolina. New York made a push, but they were only able to get one shot past replacement goalie Eddie Lack prior to the final buzzer going off.
Cam Ward went down awkwardly on a save in the second period. He was slow to get up and was obviously shaken up from a lower-body injury. Moments later, Nick Leddy scored on the man advantage. Ward was pulled from the game shortly after and did not return to the bench.
In relief, Eddie Lack played well, making 9 saves on 10 shots. He looked comfortable and solid after riding the bench all night.
The Canes played some fantastic hockey through the first 40 minutes. They were quick from the get go, and they were finally able to capitalize on their opportunities, which is something they weren’t able to do over their past two games against the Canadiens and Penguins.
Andrej Nestrasil came through with another great effort, scoring his second goal in as many nights. He had that goal, 3 shots on net, and a hit in 14:09 of ice time on Saturday.
Noah Hanifin and Jaccob Slavin both played stellar all around games for the Canes on the blue line. Hanifin chipped in a goal, the second of his young NHL career, was a +2, put 3 shots on net, blocked a shot, and had a pair of takeaways. Slavin registered an assist, had 3 shots, and was credited with a game-high 4 blocked shots. Both Hanifin and Slavin were dominant in their own end, making it impossible for the Islanders to set up their offense. It’s also good to see them contribute offensively in a big game.
The Carolina Hurricanes picked up a big 3 points over the past two nights. This was one of their biggest weekends of the season, and they were able to, in large part, deliver on the expectations.
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Next up for the Canes, a matchup on Tuesday against the visiting Winnipeg Jets. They defeated the Jets on the road 5-3 on February 5.