The Carolina Hurricanes have been working through some scoring challenges lately, but they hope they have found their rhythm again.
The Hurricanes will finish a four-game homestand on Tuesday night when they face the New York Islanders in Raleigh, N.C.
Carolina secured their third win in the last eight games on Sunday, defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1.
“We’ve been trying to figure it out a little bit. We’d have a good game and then an off game,” said Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook. “That (Sunday) was more of how it looks and how we play and everybody was pulling on the same rope. Hopefully, we can build off that because we did a lot of good things.”
Both Martinook and teammate William Carrier ended goal droughts that had lasted 13 games in the win against Columbus.
“We had a lot of scoring chances before and they weren’t going in,” Carrier said.
Sebastian Aho, the team’s top scorer last season, had gone eight games without scoring, but he broke the drought with a short-handed goal to put his team up 1-0.
While some Hurricanes players ended their scoring struggles, Martin Necas kept up his strong performance. He became just the second player in franchise history to record 30 assists in the first 30 games of a season, joining Ron Francis (1982-83). Necas has collected seven points in the past six games.
The Hurricanes might return to goalie Pyotr Kochetkov, even though Dustin Tokarski was the winner in his Carolina debut on Sunday.
The Islanders had won three of their last four games before beginning a three-game road trip with a 5-3 loss at Chicago on Sunday.
“I think we need to be a little bit more consistent,” said Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson. “We have to reset. Obviously a tough game on Tuesday.”
However, Islanders captain Anders Lee felt there was no need for discouragement after their recent game.
“We gave ourselves a chance to win a hockey game,” Lee said. New York will look to improve their power play after going 0-for-4 against Chicago.
A factor could be the return of some players to the lineup. Center Mathew Barzal played on Sunday for the first time since late October, logging two shots on goal in nearly 21 minutes of ice time. Barzal said he aims to perform better on Tuesday.
“That’s the key, just moving on,” Barzal said. “We just got to find a way to get these games.”
Islanders center Bo Horvat missed Sunday’s game with a lower-body injury, and his status for Tuesday’s game will be determined later.
The Islanders defeated the Hurricanes 4-3 at home on Dec. 7, with three points from Jean-Gabriel Pageau, despite two goals from Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov. Ilya Sorokin made 28 saves for New York. Kochetkov took the loss after allowing four goals on 25 shots.
Pageau has not scored in three of the four games since the first meeting with Carolina. After Tuesday’s game, the Hurricanes will head out on the road for their next four games.
