Kochetkov, Hurricanes shut out Islanders

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Pyotr Kochetkov made 32 saves for the Carolina Hurricanes in a 4-0 win against the New York Islanders at Lenovo Center on Tuesday.

“He was obviously the best player tonight,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We gave up more than I would like to see and we were a little loosey. That sometimes happens when you get an early lead; it’s hard to stick with it. He was great all night. Looked like he was dialed right in.”

Sebastian Aho had a goal and assist, and Shayne Gostisbehere had two assists for the Hurricanes (20-10-1), who have won two in a row. Kochetkov got his first shutout of the season and ninth in the NHL.

“I’m happy today to have the shutout,” Kochetkov said. “I tried to not think about [the shutout until] about seven minutes in the last period. I had a couple ideas about this: I think, just stay in net and relax and do your job. I just want to win and not think about the shutout.”

Ilya Sorokin allowed four goals on 23 shots through two periods for the Islanders (12-14-7), who have lost three of four. Marcus Hogberg made six saves in relief.

“That's a team that does a really good job around the net, and they were better than us,” New York coach Patrick Roy said. “We did some good things out there. We outshot them. It's something that's pretty tough to do in that building.”

Andrei Svechnikov’s power-play goal gave Carolina a 1-0 lead at 5:47 of the first period. He took a pass from Aho along the goal line on the right side, skated toward the net and stuffed the puck through Sorokin’s five-hole.

Jordan Martinook made it 2-0 at 8:21. Sorokin kicked away Jordan Staal’s shot from in close, but Martinook tapped in the rebound at the top of the crease.

“The second goal, we win a face-off, and then get on the wrong side and kind of just lose coverage, and it's in the back of the net,” Islanders forward Brock Nelson said. “So, I mean [they're] mistakes that I feel are so correctable at the same time.”

Tyson Jost pushed the lead to 3-0 at 11:13 of the second period. He forced a turnover by Casey Cizikas behind the Islanders net, then moved in front, where he batted in the rebound of Gostisbehere’s shot.

“That’s a huge part of my game, getting in on the forecheck and creating turnovers, creating havoc out there,” Jost said. “It’s something I’ve got to bring to my game, and I feel like I’m doing that really well. So it’s nice to get rewarded for that.”

Aho extended it to 4-0 at 19:44 when he finished a give-and-go with Eric Robinson on a 2-on-1 by one-timing a shot from the left hash marks.

Kochetkov made several difficult saves. He stopped Bo Horvat from in close at 9:56 of the first by moving across the slot to make a pad save, then later denied Brock Nelson on the doorstep with the blocker on a 2-on-1 at 13:41 of the third period.

“You’re always tracking the puck and seeing where different guys are,” Kochetkov said. “Today I have saves. It’s good for me.”

For Carolina, the win follows a 4-1 victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday, when Dustin Tokarski made 27 saves in his Hurricanes debut.

“Overall, the last two games we have looked pretty good overall,” Aho said. “I think there’s another level. You’re never satisfied. If you have a great game, you still want to improve.

“The mindset has been not giving them anything. Both goalies played great games, but I think we’ve done [a] little bit better job to shut them down as well and wait for our own opportunities.”

NOTES: The Islanders have given up the first goal in each of their past eight games. … New York has been shut out five times this season … The Hurricanes are 9-2-1 against the Metropolitan Division. … Gostisbehere has seven multipoint games this season.