Five-goal second period carries Hurricanes

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Andrej Nestrasil had good reason to put on a show.
His mother and 72-year-old grandmother came from the Czech Republic this week to see him play in the NHL for the first time. He treated them a nice goal on a 2-on-1 break during a five-goal second period in the Carolina Hurricanes' 6-3 win against the New York Islanders at PNC Arena on Saturday.

"They travel so far, and you want them to really enjoy it," Nestrasil said. "My mom was always there for me. I remember when she was pregnant with my little brother. The day she gave birth, she was tying my skates at the rink."
The 24-year-old forward is making the most of the family visit. His mother and grandmother saw him score Carolina's only goal in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday.

"I'm really happy for her that she got to see two goals," he said. "It doesn't happen often with me, so that's great."
The six goals, including two by center Victor Rask, were the most scored this season by the Hurricanes (25-21-10). Jordan Staal and Phillip Di Giuseppe each had two assists.
Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward left the game late in the second period with an apparent lower-body injury. He was replaced by Eddie Lack.
The Islanders (29-19-6) had their three-game winning streak end.
The Hurricanes kept the Islanders hemmed in their zone for much of the first period until Riley Nash scored his fifth of the season at 17:22. He gathered the puck along the right-side boards, then started a give-and-go with Jay McClement before beating Jaroslav Halak with a wrist shot over the blocker.

The Hurricanes outshot the Islanders 16-7 in the first period, then blew the game open in the second when they outscored New York 5-2.
Rookie defenseman Noah Hanifin scored his second of the season on a shot from the left point that beat Halak at 4:19. Kris Versteeg made it 3-0 with his 11th of the season at 9:34. Di Giuseppe made a long pass from the left-side boards to the right post, where Versteeg finished on the forehand.
A quick 2-on-1 from the offensive blue line provided Carolina's fourth goal. Joakim Nordstrom made a saucer pass to Andrej Nestrasil, who finished on the forehand at 10:54. The goal was Nestrasil's ninth of the season and fifth in four games.
"It was a great play by Jordan in the D-zone allowing us to go 2-on-1," said Nestrasil, who has four goals in the past four games. "Nordstrom made a [heck] of a pass. It was a beautiful saucer, right on my tape. I just finished it."

Hurricanes coach Bill Peters has used Nestrasil on a shutdown line with Nordstrom and Staal for the past three months, but he feels that Nestrasil can contribute offensively as well.
"He has sneaky skill," Peters said. "He's got real good hands, skill and creativity. [He has] that European flair and an offensive mind. That's why he hangs onto pucks the way he does. He has good skill and confidence in his ability."
The Islanders then made a push, scoring two goals in less than two minutes.
Kyle Okposo won a race to the puck in the corner and set up John Tavares, who chipped the puck under Ward's blocker from close range at 13:46. With John-Michael Liles off for hooking, defenseman Nick Leddy's slap shot from above the circles sailed under the crossbar at 15:20 to cut Carolina's lead to 4-2.

Earlier in the power play, Ward stopped Leddy on the doorstep with a right-pad save, but he got up slowly. He was replaced by Lack at 17:34 after making 15 saves on 17 shots. After the game, Peters was uncertain about the nature of the injury, but Ward told him he couldn't continue.
"He didn't feel 100 percent confident in his stability," Peters said.
The Hurricanes regained control of the game when Rask scored twice in an 81-second span. With the teams playing 4-on-4 after matching roughing penalties, Islanders forward Ryan Strome went off for hooking. Rask took a diagonal pass from Elias Lindholm, then knocked in the rebound of his own shot.
"That's the turning point," Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. "It's 4-2 and all of a sudden we're back in it and take an offensive-zone penalty. I felt like the crowd was out of it at the time. We had all the surge going and the momentum."

Rask scored his 14th of the season on a rebound at 19:58 after Halak stopped Di Giuseppe's shot along the goal line.
"It's nice to contribute to the team. Not the prettiest ones, but they all count," said Rask, who had one goal in his previous 14 games. "We really worked hard and had a lot of shots on net. We had some good traffic in front of the net too.
The four-goal lead gave Lack time adjust after coming into the game on short notice.
"I was still trying to get warm," said Lack, who made nine saves on 10 shots. "It took a little pressure off me that the boys scored two at the end of the second to give me a little breathing room."

Thomas Greiss played the third period in relief of Halak, who allowed six goals on 28 shots.
The Islanders cut the deficit to three goals when Casey Cizikas carried the puck up ice and set up Matt Martin near the slot for a shot over Lack's glove at 6:39. But New York generated little offense the rest of the way.
"You play 82 games, it's going to happen. Let's not kid ourselves," Capuano said. "I just felt bad because [Halak] has been practicing hard. We left our goalie out to dry, and looking back, I should have changed the lines sooner than I did to see if we could get a spark."