Dmitry Orlov’s goal with 10:41 remaining broke a tie and teammate Seth Jarvis finished with two goals as the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the New York Islanders 6-4 on Sunday in Raleigh, N.C.
The Hurricanes (45-24-4, 94 points) are on the verge of clinching a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Montreal’s victory earlier in the day at Florida prevented that from becoming a possibility Sunday, but Carolina inched a little closer.
Mark Jankowski, Logan Stankoven and Sebastian Aho also scored for the Hurricanes, who won for the 11th time in their last 13 games. Aho and Tyson Jost also supplied two assists. Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 27 shots, with 12 of his saves coming in the third period.
Jarvis tied the franchise record with his fifth short-handed goal of the season to put Carolina ahead 4-3 late in the second period. His second goal of the day and 29th of the season came with 2:46 to play.
Pierre Engvall scored two goals for the Islanders (32-31-10, 74 points), who’ve lost five consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri and Anders Lee had the other goals, while Bo Horvat provided two assists and Palmieri posted an assist. Goalie Marcus Hogberg made 24 saves.
Lee’s goal on a backdoor delivery 4:05 into the third period pulled Islanders even at 4-4.
Then Orlov, a defenseman, scored when Carolina won a faceoff.
Carolina led 2-0 on goals 13 seconds apart from Jankowski and Stankoven in the game’s opening five minutes.
But the Islanders wasted little with a response. Engvall’s first goal came 6:10 into the game. With 8:33 left in the first period, Palmieri converted on a power play.
Engvall’s second goal came 1:37 into the second period when the Hurricanes had a sloppy stretch handling the puck. The go-ahead goal came shortly after the Islanders’ power play expired.
Engvall increased his goal total to eight for the season.
The Hurricanes played without captain Jordan Staal because of a lower-body injury.