Boychuk's Go-Ahead Goal Helps Islanders Beat Hurricanes

NEW YORK (AP) — Johnny Boychuk scored the tiebreaking goal on a slap shot with 4:25 remaining and the New York Islanders rallied to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 6-4 Thursday night.

Mathew Barzal had a goal and two assists, and Nick Leddy, Josh Bailey and Cal Clutterbuck each had a goal and an assist to help the Islanders remain one of two NHL teams without a regulation loss at home this season at 6-0-2. Jordan Eberle added an empty-netter, Anders Lee had two assists and Thomas Greiss finished with 28 saves.

Sebastian Aho had a goal and an assist, and Elias Lindholm, Noah Hanafin and Derek Ryan also scored for Carolina, which was 3-0-2 in its last five. Teuvo Teraivainen and Jordan Staal had two assists each, and Scott Darling stopped 30 shots.

The Islanders trailed 4-3 after two periods and tied it at 7:22 of the third. Barzal sent a pass in front to Lee at the right side, and he backhanded it to Bailey, who put it in from the left side for his fourth.

On the winner, Casey Cizikas brought the puck up the right side, spun and sent the puck back to Boychuk at the right point and he fired it past Darling.

Eberle capped the scoring with 1:18 left for his seventh goal of the season, all in the last eight games.

Trailing 3-1 after one period, the Hurricanes turned it around and took the lead with a three-goal second.

Staal's centering pass from the goal line on the right side deflected off Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech's skate to the left side. Hanafin skated from behind the net and quickly put it into the open side before Greiss could recover to pull the Hurricanes within one at 2:54.

Ryan tied it for Carolina as he backhanded the rebound of a shot by Brett Pesce in front past Greiss for his fourth with 8:41 remaining in the second.

Aho then gave the Hurricanes their first lead with 52 seconds left. Staal sent a pass from the left side in front to Teravainen, who sent it to Aho standing at the right side of the net and the Finnish forward quickly put it in for his second of the season.

The Islanders outshot the Hurricanes 14-9 in the first period and led 3-1, with all the scoring coming in the final 3:39.

Barzal broke through first as he brought the puck up the left side on a 2-on-1 break with Eberle and fired it past Darling's glove side for his fourth with 3:39 to go.

With Lee off for tripping, Clutterbuck doubled the lead 36 seconds later on a short-handed breakaway into the top right corner. It was the first short-handed goal given up by the Hurricanes this season.

Carolina was still on the power play when Lindholm deflected a shot by Aho from the left circle with 2:30 remaining in the opening period.

Leddy made it 3-1 about two minutes later when his shot from the left circle beat Darling for his fourth.

NOTES: Teravainen's assist on Lindholm's first-period goal was his 100th career point. ... Aho played in his 99th career game. ... The teams play three more times this season: on Sunday and Feb. 16 at Raleigh, North Carolina; and March 18 back in Brooklyn. ... Leddy has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in his last 11 games. ... New York captain John Tavares played in his 605th game, one behind former teammate Frans Nielsen for 13th place on the franchise list. ... The Islanders changed forward Josh Ho-Sang's emergency recall from Bridgeport of the AHL to a regular recall earlier in the day. ... Jason Chimera played in his 206th consecutive game, including the last 100 with the Islanders.

UP NEXT

Hurricanes: At Buffalo on Saturday night to wrap up a two-game trip.

Islanders: At Tampa Bay on Saturday night to open a back-to-back on the road.

(Copyright 2017 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)