Greiss makes 45 saves in Isles' shutout of Hurricanes

A different goalie provided a similar result for the New York Islanders as they posted a shutout for the second night in a row, this time blanking the Carolina Hurricanes 3-0 on Friday night at PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C.

Thomas Greiss registered 45 saves in the shutout for only his second victory in a two-month stretch.

Defenseman Johnny Boychuk scored midway through the second period and center Anthony Beauvillier padded the lead in the third period. John Tavares added an empty-net goal with 32 seconds left for his team-leading 30th tally of the season.

Greiss' previous shutout came nearly a year ago, when he stopped the Montreal Canadiens on Feb. 23, 2017.

Greiss had played only four previous games in 2018, allowing a total of 19 goals in those games.

The Islanders rode goalie Jaroslav Halak's 50-save performance to a 3-0 shutout of the New York Rangers on Thursday night.

Boychuk hadn't scored since Nov. 22, though he has had a couple of stints when he has been out injured during that time. This was his fifth game since sitting out for more than a month.

Carolina goalie Cam Ward, who also didn't play Thursday night, stopped 20 shots.

The Hurricanes have dropped games on consecutive nights following a 5-2-1 homestand. This marked their ninth home game in a 10-game period.

The Islanders won for the third time in five games.

Boychuk's fourth goal of the season was assisted by Brock Nelson and Ross Johnston.

Ward stopped former teammate Andrew Ladd's breakaway in the second period to keep the score at 1-0.

Carolina's Jeff Skinner had an apparent tying goal four minutes into the third period that was nullified when the Islanders won a challenge. The Hurricanes were ruled to be offsides.

That Skinner goal would have come just 14 seconds after a power play expired.

Instead, Beauvillier scored with eight minutes remaining, as New York extended its lead. He has 14 goals this season, including two in the past four games.

--Field Level Media