Hurricanes defeat Islanders, extend lead in Metropolitan Division

The Carolina Hurricanes extended their lead in the Metropolitan Division with a 5-2 win against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, on Sunday.

Max Domi scored the go-ahead goal in the third period to help Carolina (52-20-8) move four points ahead of the second-place New York Rangers, who hold one game in hand.
"That game-winning goal was just great work by everybody," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "He's very good with the puck, he's made a lot of great plays when it's on his stick. But he definitely has the ability to put the puck in the net, which we would love to see a little more."

Derek Stepan and Seth Jarvis scored, and Pyotr Kochetkov made seven saves in relief of Antti Raanta to give the Hurricanes their fourth consecutive victory. They tied a Carolina/Hartford Whalers record for wins and points (112) in a season, set by the 2005-06 Stanley Cup champions.
Raanta made 17 saves before leaving with a lower-body injury at 12:57 of the second. Frederik Andersen has missed four games with a lower-body injury and will be reevaluated in the next few days.
"I thought 'Raants' was really good for us and when (Kochetkov) came in, I think everyone kind of tightened up to help out a teammate," Stepan said. "It just sharpened us a little bit. That's all it takes nowadays in this game, is a little bit of elevation, and it can be the difference in a lot. The little sharpening was huge for us."
Ross Johnston and Ryan Pulock scored, and Semyon Varlamov made 29 saves for the Islanders (35-34-10), who have lost five in a row (0-4-1).
"[The Hurricanes] want to finish first, and I thought we played them straight up," New York coach Barry Trotz said. "For two periods, I thought we were really quite good. We battled back and got ourselves to a 2-2 game."

Domi gave the Hurricanes a 3-2 lead at 5:40 of the third when he one-timed a pass from Teuvo Teravainen behind the net. Jesper Fast scored into an empty net to make it 4-2 at 17:53. Brendan Smith scored another empty-net goal for the 5-2 final at 18:50.
Stepan put the Hurricanes ahead 1-0 at 2:25 of the first when he intercepted a pass by Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson and beat Varlamov through the five-hole. The forward has been a healthy scratch in six of the past seven games.
"Nobody likes sitting out, and I'm no different," Stepan said. "I was excited to play. I want to make it hard to keep me [out of] the lineup and continue to focus in on what I can do to help."
Jarvis scored on the power play to make it 2-0 at 8:09. He took a pass from Andrei Svechnikov near the left post and lifted a shot over Varlamov's glove.
Johnston made it 2-1 at 18:25 when tipped Matt Martin's centering pass at the top of the crease.
"I thought the whole sequence is how our line has to play, getting the puck deep, forcing the puck deep," Johnston said. "'Marty' made the great spin-around play, and I was fortunate enough that it hit my stick and went in the net."

Pulock scored on the power play to tie it 2-2 at 15:27 of the second on a wrist shot from the right circle.
"The second period they started taking it to us a little bit," Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal said. "They made some good plays and wore us down a little bit. We obviously wanted to get to our game in the third and stay at that level of pace."
NOTES:The Islanders are 2-21-5 when trailing after the first period. ... Brind'Amour said he will know more about Raanta's injury in a couple of days. … Stepan won eight of nine face-offs. ... Carolina leads the NHL with a plus-46 goal differential in the third period. ... Jarvis extended his goal streak to three games and point streak to five. ... Fast got his 200th NHL point. He has 75 goals and 125 assists in 548 games. … Casey Cizikas assisted on Johnston's goal for his 200th point (90 goals, 110 assists in 661 games).