Rask scores 2 goals, Hurricanes beat Islanders 6-3
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) Victor Rask scored twice to cap Carolina's five-goal second period and the Hurricanes beat the New York Islanders 6-3 on Saturday night.
Riley Nash, Noah Hanifin, Kris Versteeg, and Andrej Nestrasil also scored for Carolina, which was celebrating the 10-year anniversary of its 2006 Stanley Cup season. Jordan Staal and Phillip Di Giuseppe each had two assists.
John Tavares, Nick Leddy and Matt Martin scored for the Islanders, who snapped a three-game winning streak.
Nestrasil's ninth goal of the season put the Hurricanes up 4-0 with about 9 minutes left in the second period.
Tavares got New York on the scoreboard with his team-leading 21st goal with 6:14 left in the middle period, and Leddy's power-play score made it 4-2 a little more than 90 seconds later.
However Rask scored twice 1:21 apart late in the second to restore Carolina's four-goal lead.
Carolina goalie Cam Ward departed with about 2 1/2 minutes left in the second period with an apparent injury to his left leg. He gave up two goals on 16 shots, before Eddie Lack finished and stopped nine of the 10 shots he faced.
Islanders goalie Jaroslav Halak gave up all six goals on 28 shots in two periods. Thomas Greiss replaced Halak to start the third and stopped all three shots he faced in the final period.
NOTES: Islanders assistant coach and assistant general manager Doug Weight took part in a pregame on-ice ceremony honoring the 2006 Stanley Cup champions. He played as a forward on that Carolina team. ... Islanders RW Cal Clutterbuck missed the game with an illness, so RW Steve Bernier played for the first time since Dec. 21. ... Hurricanes D Justin Faulk sat out for the second game in a row after he suffered a lower-body injury during Thursday's practice.
