Slavin's first career hat trick sends Hurricanes by Islanders
NEW YORK -- Jaccob Slavin collected the first hat trick of his NHL career Monday night as the Carolina Hurricanes routed the New York Islanders, 8-4, at Barclays Center.
Slavin entered the game with just two goals this season and four goals in his two-year career but scored once in each period as the Hurricanes (28-27-11) snapped out of an offensive slump in a big way. Carolina, which took control by scoring four unanswered goals in the second period, produced three goals or fewer in 13 of its previous 14 games.
Justin Faulk and Jeff Skinner each scored twice. Skinner's second goal came on a third period penalty shot while Joakim Nordstrom scored once as the Hurricanes tied a season-high for goals scored. Carolina beat the Vancouver Canucks, 8-6, on Dec. 13.
Goalie Cam Ward recorded 23 saves.
Ryan Strome, Stephen Gionta, Calvin De Haan and Josh Ho-Sang all scored for the Islanders (32-25-11), who missed a chance to move past the idle Toronto Maple Leafs into sole possession of the second and final Eastern Conference wild card spot.
Starting goalie Jean-Francois Berube was pulled after giving up four goals on 13 shots. Thomas Greiss, who started the previous nine games, was tagged with the loss after giving up four goals on 20 shots.
The Islanders took the lead with 10:49 left in the first on Strome's shot from the left faceoff circle went between the legs of teammate Jason Chimera and Hurricanes center Lucas Wallmark before sailing past Ward.
The Hurricanes produced their first multi-goal flurry by scoring twice in a 36-second span a little more than five minutes later. Slavin tied the score with a shot from just inside the blue line at the 14:14 mark before Nordstrom swooped in to put back a rebound of a shot by Lee Stempniak.
The Islanders tied the game with 2:28 remaining in the period when Gionta managed to jam in a rebound of Cal Clutterbuck's wraparound while being surrounded by three Hurricanes. De Haan gave the Islanders a brief lead 2:43 into the second when his shot from just inside the left faceoff circle sailed under Ward's glove.
However, the Hurricanes scored four unanswered goals off two different goalies in a span of just 4:54 to take a 6-3 lead.
Faulk tied the game when he took a pass from Jordan Staal, collected the puck after it briefly skipped away and fired a shot under Berube's glove at the 6:51 mark. Skinner scored on a semi-breakaway 71 seconds later following an Islanders turnover and the goal chased Berube.
Faulk scored his second goal just 56 seconds after Greiss entered when he collected the puck at center ice and scored from behind the right faceoff circle at 8:58.
Slavin extended the lead to 6-3 when he stole the puck from Islanders center Brock Nelson at center ice and outraced Nelson to beat Greiss at 11:45.
A turnover deep in the Hurricanes' zone helped the Islanders cap the scoring in the wild second. Anthony Beauvillier intercepted a clearing pass by Derek Ryan and fired at Ward before Ho-Sang tucked home the rebound at 13:50.
NOTES: The Islanders scratched D Johnny Boychuk (lower body), C Shane Prince (leg) and C Alan Quine (upper body) as well as D Scott Mayfield. ... The Hurricanes scratched LW Phil Di Giuseppe (upper body), D Brock McGinn (upper body) and LW Valentin Zykov (upper body) as well as D Ryan Murphy. The home game was the first for the Islanders in 23 days. New York went 5-3-1 on a franchise-record nine-game road trip that ended Saturday.