Hurricanes at Islanders
The New York Islanders received immediate dividends from numerous offseason acquisitions in their season-opening 5-3 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Islanders would love even more return on their investment when the Metropolitan Division rivals continue their home-and-home series in Long Island on Saturday. Defenseman Johnny Boychuk collected a goal and two assists while logging a game-high 23:11 of ice time in his first contest since being acquired from Boston last week.
"It feels good to get a win, but even better the way things happened for me," Boychuk said after his team spoiled the coaching debut of Bill Peters. Signed to four-year deals, Jaroslav Halak (21 saves) and Mikhail Grabovski (goal) also fared well while defenseman Nick Leddy saw nearly 18 1/2 minutes of ice time after being acquired from Chicago last week. Cam Ward struggled mightily in the opener and is expected take a spectator's role in favor of Anton Khudobin, who has split a pair of career meetings with New York while stopping 59-of-63 shots.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Carolinas, MSG Plus (New York)
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (0-1-0): In addition to Khudobin, Carolina is likely to see Brett Bellemore and Ryan Murphy inserted into Saturday's lineup. "We've got to look at getting better back there," Peters said. "... We've got some guys who can come in back there. 'Murph' would add something on the power play and help us move the puck 5-on-5, and 'Belly' is hard to play against." Rookie Victor Rask acquitted himself well in his NHL debut, and originally was credited with his first career point - and assist - before a scoring change in the third period.
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (1-0-0): Playing his second season with the club, Brock Nelson received top billing as he collected two goals and two assists after recording 14 and 12, respectively, in 2013-14. Captain John Tavares set up three tallies in his first game since suffering a knee injury during the Winter Olympics. While obviously overjoyed with the result, Tavares did his best to keep the bigger picture in perspective. "It's one game," he told Newsday. "We don't want to fall in love with it too much."
OVERTIME
1. Both teams scored a pair of power-play goals, with the Islanders netting one in both the first and second periods and the Hurricanes recording two in the third.
2. Carolina has dropped two straight meetings with the Islanders after winning six in a row.
3. New York RW Michael Grabner is sidelined indefinitely after undergoing sports hernia surgery, Newsday reported.