Hurricanes 6, Islanders 4
UNIONDALE, N.Y. - The Carolina Hurricanes scored four goals in the third period Monday night to come back and defeat the reeling New York Islanders, 6-4, at Nassau Coliseum.
Jiri Tlusty scored two goals, including an empty netter with 10.3 seconds left, for the Hurricanes, who also received goals from Tim Wallace, Jeff Skinner, Alexander Semin and Eric Staal.
The Hurricanes didn't lead until an Islanders "own goal" was credited to Semin 5:33 into the third. Semin had fired the puck across the ice, but it glanced off the upper body of Islanders defenseman Travis Hamonic and past Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro.
The Hurricanes (6-4-1) improved to 3-1-1 on their six-game road trip. The Islanders (4-7-1) lost their fifth in a row and fell to 1-5 during an eight-game stretch in which they play entirely in New York or New Jersey.
The Islanders lost despite going 4-for-4 on the power play. Matt Moulson scored twice for New York while Frans Nielsen and John Tavares scored once apiece.
Semin's "goal" was one of three tough-luck goals surrendered by DiPietro, who hasn't had much luck at all since signing a 15-year, $67.5 million deal with the Islanders in 2006.
The Hurricanes tied the game 1-1 when Jamie McBain's slap shot off a loose puck caught part of Wallace's skate and trickled into the net. A review upheld the goal, which was Wallace's fourth career goal and his first since last March 24, when he scored for the Lightning against the Islanders.
The Hurricanes took a 5-3 lead with 10:51 left when Jay Harrison's slap shot caught the back of Tlusty's stick, continued dribbling forward and bounced off the skate of Staal and past DiPietro.
DiPietro had 25 saves in just his second start of the year. He played just 47 out of a possible 328 games the previous four years due to a litany of injuries, including a sports hernia, facial fractures and multiple knee ailments.
The Islanders, who hadn't scored on their last 22 power plays entering the game, took leads of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 but could not make a comeback after Moulson's backhand goal in the crease with 8:28 left. Brad Boyes fired a shot far right of Cam Ward with less than a minute left.
Ward had 24 saves for the Hurricanes.
NOTES: The Islanders' previous power-play goal came on Boyes' winner in overtime against the Devils on Jan. 31. ... The Islanders entered Monday with a four-game winning streak against the Hurricanes thanks to a sweep of last year's season series. The four straight wins were the most by the Islanders against the Carolina franchise since they won four straight over the Hartford Whalers from Feb. 14, 1982, through Jan. 18, 1983. ... The Hurricanes played the fifth game of a season-long six-game road trip Monday. It also marked the beginning of the second of their eight back-to-back games. They'll visit the Devils on Tuesday night. The Hurricanes also will visit the Islanders for the second game of their next back-to-back set Feb. 23-24.
