Islanders defeat Hurricanes for second straight shutout

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Thomas Greiss made 45 saves for the New York Islanders in a 3-0 win against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena on Friday.

"He was great," Islanders coach Doug Weight said. "He was confident and he came in and did the job. He made the saves he had to. It was just a really good road win that we needed."
It was the second straight shutout for New York after they did not have one this season. Jaroslav Halak made 50 saves to defeat the New York Rangers 3-0 on Thursday.
WATCH: [All Islanders vs. Hurricanes highlights]
Johnny Boychuk and Anthony Beauvillier scored for the Islanders (29-25-6), who moved one point ahead of the Hurricanes for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
Cam Ward made 21 saves for the Hurricanes (27-23-9), who lost their second in a row.
"[The Islanders] did a good job boxing out. They had sticks tied up," Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said. "We pushed. I thought we had a steady effort throughout."
The Islanders took a 1-0 lead at 10:06 of the second period. After Ross Johnston and Brock Nelson worked the puck off the boards, Boychuk scored from the right point.
"[Nelson] chipped it back to me and I just shot it," Boychuk said. "It was a rolling puck and it knuckled in."

Jeff Skinner appeared to tie it 1-1 at 4:00 of the third period, but video review determined he was offside before Jaccob Slavin carried the puck over the offensive blue line.
Beauvillier scored on a breakaway at 12:00 to give New York a 2-0 lead. Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk mishandled a pass in the offensive zone, and Beauvillier held off Noah Hanifin before he was able to shovel the puck on his forehand.
"I saw that fumbled puck on the blue line there, just trying to get my speed going to get on the breakaway," Beauvillier said. "I kind of closed my eyes and shot it at the net. I was kind of tight with the goalie there."

John Tavares was awarded a goal, his 30th of the season, to make it 3-0 with 32 seconds left when he was tripped with the Hurricanes goal vacated for a sixth attacker.
Greiss allowed at least five goals in seven of his prior nine starts.
"He played extremely well," Boychuk said. "It's good to see that he had a solid performance and helped us get the win. He's just got to keep working hard and do the right things."

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Goal of the game

Boychuk's goal at 10:06 of the second period.

Save of the game

Greiss' save on Faulk with 1:10 remaining in the third period.

Highlight of the game

Beauvillier's goal at 12:00 of the third period.

They said it

"Really, the guys made some better decisions. That's our identity. They battle, they work, they roll shifts over. What happens is, teams naturally throw pucks at us because they see, oh, they're giving up a lot of shots. Today wasn't a 45-shot-against performance. We were in lanes, we were making some good plays and we deserved to win." -- Islanders coach Doug Weight
"To be honest, I thought we played a pretty solid game today. I thought we were all over them. Kudos to their goalie. He had a great game. [But] we've got to find ways to bear down and put it in." -- Hurricanes defenseman Brett Pesce

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Need to know

The saves made by Greiss and Halak are second- and third-most in a shutout in Islanders history. Glenn Healy made 51 in a 3-1 win against the Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 16, 1990. … Tavares has scored 22 goals in 33 games against the Hurricanes. … The Islanders have allowed at least 39 shots in 10 of the past 11 games. … Trevor van Riemsdyk was the only Hurricanes player without a shot on goal. … The Islanders and Hurricanes combined for 56 goals in their previous seven games.

What's next

Islanders: Host the Minnesota Wild on Monday (1 p.m. ET; SN, MSG+, FS-N, NHL.TV)
Hurricanes: Host the New Jersey Devils on Saturday (5 p.m. ET; FS-CR, MSG+, NHL.TV)