CAROLINA HURRICANES NOTES:
NJURY REPORT
Brett Pesce, lower-body, missed six games (10/21-11/2)
2023-24 Man-Games Lost Due to Injury: 19
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Nov. 2 Activated Vasily Ponomarev from the injured non-roster list and assigned him to Tucson (AHL)
HURRICANES vs. ISLANDERS SERIES NOTES
— Carolina is facing New York in the first of four meetings between the teams during the 2023-24 season. The Islanders travel to PNC Arena on 11/30 and 12/23, and the Hurricanes return to UBS Arena on 3/19. — The Hurricanes and Islanders are meeting for the 156th time in their regular-season histories. Carolina holds an 81-54-9-11 overall record, including a 42-25-4-5 road record and a 58-26-0-11 record since relocation. — Carolina and New York also met in the 2023 Eastern Conference First Round, as the Hurricanes earned a 4-2 series victory. — The Hurricanes won the season series 3-1-0 in 2022-23 (Islanders: 1-3-0), and the Hurricanes are 9-2-0 in the teams’ last 11 matchups dating back to 1/8/19. — The Hurricanes suffered a 6-2 loss against the Islanders at PNC Arena on 10/28/22. Martin Necas and Brent Burns each scored for Carolina, while Frederik Andersen made 26 saves in net. — Carolina earned a 3-0 win over New York at UBS Arena on 12/10/22. Paul Stastny, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Jordan Staal scored for the Hurricanes, and Pyotr Kochetkov posted a 16-save shutout. — The Hurricanes posted a 5-2 win over the Islanders at UBS Arena on 1/21/23. Sebastian Aho scored his second hat trick of the season (3g), and Jordan Staal (1g, 1a) and Teuvo Teravainen (2a) each recorded two points as Frederik Andersen stopped 29 of 31 shots faced in net. — Carolina registered a 2-1 win over New York at PNC Arena on 4/2/23. Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Jordan Martinook scored for the Hurricanes, while Frederik Andersen stopped 21 of 22 shots faced in net. — Sebastian Aho has earned 15 points (5g, 10a) in 22 career regular-season games against New York. — Brent Burns has recorded 19 points (7g, 12a) in 26 career regular-season games against the Islanders. — Jaccob Slavin has tallied 13 points (6g, 7a) in 25 career regular-season games against New York, marking his most goals and points against any NHL opponent. He scored his only career hat trick in an 8-4 win over the Islanders at Barclays Center on 3/13/17. — Andrei Svechnikov has registered 10 points (4g, 6a) in 13 career regular-season games against the Islanders. — Teuvo Teravainen has posted 20 points (7g, 13a) in 25 career regular-season games against New York. — Jack Drury was born in New York, N.Y., on 2/3/00 while his father, Ted, was playing for the Islanders. Ted skated in 55 games with New York during the 1999-00 season, recording three points (2g, 1a) and 31 penalty minutes. — Islanders Assistant Coach Doug Houda earned 20 points (6g, 14a) and 356 penalty minutes in 142 games with Hartford from 1991-93. Acquired from DET in exchange for Doug Crossman on 2/20/91, Houda was traded to LAK in exchange for Marc Potvin on 11/3/93.
CARDIAC CANES
Carolina earned a 3-2 win at PHI (10/30) after trailing 2-1 through 20 minutes, as Michael Bunting tied the game on the power play in the second period before Teuvo Teravainen scored the winner in the final minutes of regulation. The Hurricanes have posted two comeback wins in their last four games (10/26-11/2), as they also trailed 2-0 in the first period of their overtime win against the Kraken on 10/26. Their four total comeback wins this season (also 10/11 vs. OTT, 10/17 at SJS) trail only NJD (5) and VGK (5) for the league lead. Carolina has also registered two third-period comeback wins in 2023-24, tied for the second-most of any team (ANA: 4), after setting a franchise record with 10 such wins last season.
NEW YORK ISLANDERS NOTES:
THE ISLANDERS VS. CAROLINA
LAST FIVE MEETINGS (1-4-0)
Apr. 2, 2023 PNC Arena L (2-1)
Jan. 21, 2023 UBS Arena L (5-2)
Dec. 10, 2022 UBS Arena L (3-0)
Oct. 28, 2022 PNC Arena W (6-2)
Apr. 24, 2022 UBS Arena L (5-2)
2022-23 1-3-0
Franchise History 65-74-9-7
NYI Home 30-38-4-4
NYI Away 35-36-5-3
RECENT RESULTS
Nov. 2 at Washington W (3-0)
Oct. 30 vs. Detroit L/OT (4-3)
Oct. 28 at Columbus W (2-0)
Oct. 26 vs. Ottawa W (3-2)
Oct. 24 vs. Colorado L (7-4)
TEAM NOTES
TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
Tonight, the New York Islanders host the Carolina Hurricanes in the first of four matchups between the two clubs this season and a rematch of the 2023 First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs (CAR won 4-2). The last time these teams met in the regular season was Apr. 2, 2023 in Raleigh. Tonight, the Islanders will look to collect points for the fifth straight game (3-0-1 since Oct. 26). They will also look for their third straight win against a Metropolitan Division opponent following their 3-0 victory in Washington on Thursday, and they can also earn their first home-ice victory against Carolina since November 24, 2018.
QUICK SCORING
Defenseman Ryan Pulock recorded his first goal of the season on Thursday, just 22 seconds into regulation. Pulock tied Tomas Jonsson for third-fastest game-opening goal by an Islanders blueliner in franchise history (N. Leddy 0:13, D. Potvin 0:16). It was Pulock’s ninth career game-winning goal and first since Dec. 23, 2022, and also the earliest game-winner scored in franchise history, breaking Clark Gillies’ record (0:34 on Feb. 22, 1976).
40
Islanders netminder Semyon Varlamov turned aside all 32 shots he faced on Thursday night in Washington to record his 40th career shutout, fourth-most amongst active goaltenders. Varlamov also recorded a shutout on Oct. 28, in Columbus. It is the third time in his Islander career that he has recorded consecutive shutouts and the first time since April 2021. It was also his 15th shutout in an Islander sweater, passing Tommy Salo for sole possession of fifth in franchise history. Varlamov helped the Islanders become the first NHL team this season to record three shutouts, and he joins Tristan Jarry (PIT) and Jonas Johansson (TOR) as the only goaltenders to blank an opponent twice this season. It is the second time in three seasons that the Islanders have recorded three shutouts in their first nine games. His current shutout streak of 137:20 is the longest in the NHL this season and his third-longest as an Islander. Varlamov holds the franchise record for longest shutout streak by an Islander netminder (248:00 in April 2021).
SCORING FIRST
Thursday night in Washington, the Islanders improved to 5-0-2 when scoring the first goal this season. They have scored first in seven of their nine games in 2023-24 and have collected at least one point each time they find the back of the net first. The Islanders have also outscored their opponents 9-3 in the first period through nine games. Their three goals allowed in the first frame are the fewest in the NHL. ASSIST STREAK Islanders forward Pierre Engvall has recorded a point in each of his last three games, including an assist on Thursday night to help the Islanders defeat the Washington Capitals, 3-0. The 27-year-old enters tonight’s game three points shy of his 100th career point and has recorded assists in his last two matchups against Carolina. The Islanders have collected points each time the Ljungby, SWE native has found the scoresheet this season (3-0-2).
GOAL SCORER
Islanders forward Brock Nelson has found the back of the net in each of his last two games, including a goal and assist in Thursday night’s win in Washington. The Warroad, MN native leads the Islanders in goals (five) through nine games this season. Nelson also scored on Monday night vs. Detroit. It was his 36th career goal in the month of October, passing Denis Potvin for seventh-most in club history. Nelson leads active Islanders in points (24) and goals (13) against Carolina. He found the back of the net the last time the Hurricanes visited UBS Arena on Jan. 21, 2023.
