Stastny gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead at 7:06 of the second period. He scored from near the right post off a backhand pass from Andrei Svechnikov, who got the rebound of Brady Skjei's shot from the left point.
"That was probably one of our best games of the year, if not the best," Skjei said. "Forechecking, not giving them much, then taking the game to them and playing below the goal line. It was textbook how we wanted to play."
Jesperi Kotkaniemi pushed it to 2-0 at 4:05 of the third period with a redirection of Brent Burns' shot from the right point.
"'Burnsy' delivered a good shot, so it's just a good lane for me to tip that," Kotkaniemi said. "We needed guys to step up, and a lot of guys did that today."
Jordan Staal made it 3-0 at 8:49. Shortly after a turnover by Noah Dobson below the goal line, Jordan Martinook circled the net and got the puck out front to Staal, who scored from the edge of the crease.
"I loved the third period," Brind'Amour said. "We're up by one, just kind of put the hammer down and just kept playing our game. It was a solid two points for sure."
Carolina outshot New York 13-6 in the third.
"Guys were working, (but) we weren't able to break any of their pressure," Islanders captain Anders Lee said. "A lot of times they were right up on us. We weren't able to get it past them enough to sustain any pressure. They kind of won the territorial play tonight."