Jaccob Slavin hat trick boosts Hurricanes

NEW YORK -- Jaccob Slavin scored his first NHL hat trick to help the Carolina Hurricanes to an 8-4 win against the New York Islanders at Barclays Center on Monday.
Justin Faulk and Jeff Skinner each scored twice, Joakim Nordstrom had a goal, and Cam Ward made 23 saves for Carolina (28-27-11).
"Feels pretty good," said Slavin, who believes his previous hat trick was "maybe [in] mini-mites."

WATCH: All Hurricanes vs. Islanders highlights
Joshua Ho-Sang had a goal and an assist for the Islanders (32-25-11), who are one point behind the Toronto Maple Leafs for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. It was New York's first home game since Feb. 19 after going 5-3-1 on a nine-game road trip, the longest in their history.
J-F Berube allowed four goals on 13 shots before being pulled in the second period. Thomas Greiss made 16 saves.
"It really stings right now because I'm a lot better than this," said Berube, who made his first start since Feb. 19. "It's a really tough situation, but I'm not going to give up. I know people believe in me. I just need to find a way."
Slavin tied the game 1-1 at 14:14 of the first period, and Nordstrom gave the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead 26 seconds later when he collected a rebound, spun, and stuffed it past Berube.

Stephen Gionta tied it 2-2 at 17:32 of the first on his first goal of the season.
Calvin de Haan put New York ahead 3-2 at 2:43 of the second period, but Faulk tied it 3-3 at 6:51 when he beat Berube with a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle for the first of four straight Carolina goals.
Skinner put the Hurricanes in front 4-3 at 8:02 of the second, ending Berube's night.
Greiss failed to stop the first two shots he faced, allowing Carolina to take a 6-3 lead. Faulk scored his second of the game at 8:58 on a shot from the right circle before Slavin scored shorthanded at 11:45.
"We were just bad all over the ice, goaltenders included," Islanders coach Doug Weight said. "There's no hiding from this one, that's for sure. Veterans looked tired. All the young guys looked pretty good, actually, they had some legs. Besides that, everybody was awful."
Ho-Sang made it 6-4 at 13:50 with his second NHL goal, first at Barclays Center.

Skinner scored on a penalty shot at 3:43 of the third period, and Slavin completed the hat trick with 9:03 remaining when his shot went off Travis Hamonic's stick and past Greiss to make it 8-4.
"As a team, we were playing quick tonight," Slavin said. "We played fast through the neutral zone and got some puck in and worked them in the offensive zone."
Strome gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead 9:11 into the game when he worked his way around Slavin and beat Ward between the pads.

Goal of the game

Slavin outworked Brock Nelson for the puck along the wall just inside the Islanders blue line, skated hard to the net, and poked the puck past Greiss for his shorthanded goal.

Save of the game

Strome carried the puck into the Hurricanes zone with speed and sent a pass to the left circle for Andrew Ladd, who quickly released a wrist shot that Ward managed to control in his pads without a rebound 2:19 into the game.

Highlight of the game

Skinner deked four times before putting a backhand past Greiss on the penalty shot to put the Hurricanes ahead 7-4.

Unsung performance of the game

Hurricanes rookie forward Sebastian Aho had four shots on goal and a plus-4 rating in 19:15 of ice time.

They said it

"It went in tonight, for whatever reason. We were able to score some goals. We did a good job getting through the neutral zone with possession." -- Hurricanes coach Bill Peters
"There's five or six teams in the same boat as we are. I don't think they're making any excuses about being sharp or playing this time of year. We're playing for our lives to make the playoffs. That's what it's all about. I think we all know what this time of year is like and having that opportunity. To me, that should be as motivating as anything."-- Islanders captain John Tavares

Need to know

Hurricanes center Lucas Wallmark, 21, made his NHL debut after being promoted from Charlotte of the American Hockey League on Sunday. … The Islanders have allowed 20 goals in three games against the Hurricanes this season.

What's next

Hurricanes: Host the New York Islanders on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; FS-CR, MSG+2, NHL.TV)
Islanders: At the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; FS-CR, MSG+2, NHL.TV)