RALEIGH, N.C. – John Tavares scored two goals and had two assists to lead the New York Islanders over the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 on Tuesday night.
P.A. Parenteau and Matt Moulson scored power-play goals to give the Islanders a 2-0 lead after two periods and help New York move two points ahead of Carolina at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.
Carolina rallied with goals from Brandon Sutter and Tim Brent early in the third period to get even, but Tavares put the Islanders back in front, and Kyle Okposo added an empty-net goal with 1:22 left.
Kevin Poulin made 26 shots to earn his first win of the season. The Islanders, who snapped a two-game losing streak, are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games.
The Islanders scored two goals in four power plays against the Hurricanes, who hadn’t allowed a man-advantage goal in eight games.
Parenteau scored for the second straight game and has seven points in six games. He took advantage of Jay Harrison’s penalty for delay of game 5:49 into the game.
Moulson’s goal at 16:19 of the second gave the Islanders a two-goal cushion. Moulson got the puck in the slot off the stick of Carolina’s Eric Staal and flick a shot past goalie Cam Ward.
Sutter made it 2-1 at 3:15 of the third with help from defenceman Tim Gleason, who earned his 100th NHL assist one day after signing a four-year contract extension with the Hurricanes.
Brent tied it with a power-play goal after Poulin got caught out of the net at 6:55.
Tavares answered 41 seconds later when Ward was out of position while trying to play the puck outside the crease.
NOTES: New York D Mark Streit had two assists and posted his sixth multipoint game of the season. … Moulson has seven goals and 10 assists in his last 14 games. … Gleason, now under contract through the 2015-16 season, could have become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
