RALEIGH, North Carolina: Brock Nelson scored twice and added two assists while John Tavares and newly-acquired defenceman Johnny Boychuk added three points each as the New York Islanders spoiled the head coaching debut of Bill Peters in a road victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Islanders built a 5-1 lead before the Hurricanes scored two late goals to make the final score respectable.
The Boston Bruins dealt Boychuk six days ago for draft picks in a salary cap move, and the former Stanley Cup champion paid immediate dividends for his new club, scoring 13 seconds
after the Islanders went on a 5-on-3 power play late in the first period.
Carolina could not manage much offense without two of its top four forwards — Jeff Skinner (concussion) and Jordan Staal (broken leg) were out with injuries.
Skinner led the Hurricanes with 33 goals last season but went down in the last preseason game with his third concession in the last three seasons.
Staal, arguably the team’s best two-way center, suffered his injury Sept. 23 and is out 3-4 months.
Peters, a former assistant with the Detroit Red Wings, vowed to improve one of the NHL’s worst power play teams when he was hired to replace Kirk Muller.
However, the Hurricanes had the man advantage in the first two minutes of each of the first two periods and couldn’t mount any attack against Islanders goaltender Jaroslav Halak until left winger Nathan Gerbe scored with the extra man 1:25 into the third to make it 3-1. REUTERS
