On Star Wars night at PNC arena, the force was with the Carolina Hurricanes. The Canes beat the New York Islanders 7-4 for their fourth-straight win and fifth in the last six games. The team finished its four-game homestand a perfect four out of four, scoring 21 goals in the entirety.
The red-hot trio of forwards Brock McGinn, Jordan Staal and Elias Lindholm was at it again for the Canes (21-15-7) in this one, combining for three goals and 10 points, including a career-best four-point night for McGinn, who also scored twice in the previous win over Buffalo.
“We’re just going out there having fun right now,” McGinn said of his line. “We’re definitely supporting each other very well. We’re making plays out there, and they’re going in.”
For the fourth-straight game in the homestand, the Canes fell behind 1-0 early. Islanders (16-17-8) forward John Tavares was parked in front of goalie Cam Ward, who made his 19th consecutive start, and tipped in a point shot from defenseman Scott Mayfield to put the road team up a goal.
The Canes tied the game late in the first courtesy of McGinn. The feisty winger crashed the net and knocked in the rebound of an Elias Lindholm shot for his fourth goal in the last three games.
The tie was short-lived for the Canes; Islanders forward Anders Lee fired one over Ward’s glove from between the circles to make it 2-1 New York.
The Islanders went up by a pair less than two minutes into the second, as forward Anthony Beauvillier walked in on a breakaway, missed the net and then set up forward Jason Chimera cruising through the slot for a 3-1 lead.
“We’ve got to tighten up a little bit,” head coach Bill Peters said. “Some of these shots and the quantity, the quality and the goals against are getting a little high. It used to be a race to three [goals]. We’re getting to three, but we’re giving up too much.”
The Canes cut the deficit to one shortly after when defenseman Justin Faulk took a shot from the faceoff circle and with both teams scrambling for the rebound, Mayfield kicked it into his own net to make it a 3-2 game.
The Canes evened the score as the McGinn-Lindholm connection struck again, with McGinn making a beautiful backhand dish to Lindholm off the rush that the Boden, Sweden native one-timed by Islanders netminder Thomas Greiss to tie it at three.
“I think everybody’s out there trying to get goals,” McGinn said. “It’s going through our whole lineup; everybody’s contributing. It’s definitely a lot of fun when you put up that amount [of goals].
McGinn, who was on another level tonight, made another nice play to put the Canes ahead with just over three minutes left in the second. He pulled up along the side boards and set up defenseman Brett Pesce on the doorstep for a tap-in goal and 4-3 Carolina lead.
“You need it,” Peters said of defensemen jumping into the play offensively. “In the modern game, you need it for sure. All our D can skate; they all have the green light. Just be responsible; make good decisions. We want four guys on the rush.”
Barely over a minute into the third period, Tavares tied the game at four with his second goal of the game, flicking a loose puck over a sprawling Ward.
The goal fest continued a few minutes later when forward Lee Stempniak sniped a shot over Greiss’ glove off the faceoff to put the Canes up 5-4.
The Canes got insurance goals late in the period from Staal and forward Teuvo Teravainen late in the period to make it 7-4 and chase Greiss for backup JF Berube.
“It’s right where we want it to be,” Staal said of the Canes’ confidence level. “We’re going to continue to roll here, work hard and get better. We want to continue this onto the road here.”
The win, paired with the Philadelphia Flyers’ loss to Boston early today inches the Canes closer to the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. With 40 games to go, the Canes are one point back of the Flyers with two games in hand.
“We’re right there, for sure,” Peters said. “Our conference is very good; the Metropolitan Division is very good. It’s going to be a lot of fun. You’ve got to win games on a consistent basis. You’ve got win at a high rate and look after your own business; we did that last night and tonight.”
The Canes will hit the road for their next game, heading to Ohio to take on the league-leading Columbus Blue Jackets.
Hurricanes defenseman Brett Pesce nets a goal past Islanders goalie Thomas Greiss in the second period of the game on Saturday in PNC Arena. The goal marked Pesce's second of the season with an assist from forward Brock McGinn, his sixth of the season and first of three for the night. The Hurricanes defeated the Islanders by a score of 7-4.
