Hurricanes power past struggling Islanders for fourth straight win

NEW YORK (AP) — Seth Jarvis scored twice and the Carolina Hurricanes raced to a three-goal lead in the first period on the way to a 4-1 win over the New York Islanders on Tuesday night.

Trade-deadline acquisition Jake Guentzel had a three-point night with a goal and two assists for Carolina. Pyotr Kochetkov made 30 saves as the Hurricanes won their fourth straight game and tied a franchise record with their sixth consecutive road win. Martini Necas also scored and Brady Skjei added two assists.

“There are a lot of high-end players on this team, just trying to help the team out as much as I can,” Guentzel said. “As a line, lately we’ve had a little run here and it’s been fun. Hopefully it kind of keeps going and will see what happens.”

Kyle Palmieri scored for New York. Ilya Sorokin finished with 31 saves for the Islanders, who lost their fifth straight and have been outscored 20-6 during the stretch.

The Islanders remain on the outside of the Eastern Conference playoff picture, with hopes of reaching the postseason dwindling with each loss.

Necas delivered a back-breaking power-play goal at 19:58 of the first for Carolina. The Czechia native weaved into the offensive zone and sent a wrist shot past the blocker of Sorokin in the closing seconds for a three-goal advantage. Evgeny Kuznetsov and Skjei assisted.

“Thats a huge goal,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “End of the first number one, power play and kind of an individual effort obviously. I don’t want to say it put the game away, but it certainly gives you a nice cushion and a huge goal.”

Jarvis opened the scoring when he jammed a puck through the legs of an outstretched Sorokin at 12:48. Jarvis scored his second of the game and 25th of the season just over two minutes later with a one-timer from the slot at 14:53.

“Guentzel is a high-end player and I expect him to make those kind of plays and he did,” Jarvis said of Guentzel. “He did a great job drawing a lot of people to him and left me kind of open in the slot and I basically had the whole net to shoot at.”

Fasching was a late addition to the lineup and Pierre Engvall did not dress after participating in warmups. Engvall, who signed a seven-year contract extension with New York this past offseason, was a healthy scratch for the third time this season and first time under new coach Patrick Roy.

Palmieri smoothly collected a rebound from Brock Nelson’s wrist shot and deposited a backhand to get the Islanders on the board and spoil Kochetkov’s shutout bid at 4:30 of the third.

“I'm not happy to lose a hockey game, don't get me wrong here,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “But I thought that was something that I think we can build on.”

Guentzel scored an empty-net goal in the closing minutes of the third.

Hurricanes defenseman Brent Burns participated in his 830th consecutive game, tying Andrew Cogliano for the seventh-longest streak in NHL history.

UP NEXT

Hurricanes: Host Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday.

Islanders: Visit Detroit Red Wings on Thursday.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl