McGinn has goal, 3 assists and Canes beat Isles 7-4

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Brock McGinn, Jordan Staal and Elias Lindholm overwhelmed another opponent for Carolina, and the Hurricanes kept on rolling.

McGinn had a goal and three assists, linemates Staal and Lindholm each had a goal and two assists and the Hurricanes pulled away late to beat the New York Islanders 7-4 on Saturday night for their fourth straight victory.

“I’m enjoying playing alongside these guys,” Staal said. “A lot of things have kind of clicked for us.”

The Hurricanes overcame a 3-1 deficit with three straight goals in the second period and improved to 14-1-1 in their last 16 home games.

Carolina scored three more times in the third to make it a rout, including Lee Stempniak’s goal 5:42 into the final period that broke a 4-4 tie.

McGinn has scored in three straight games and has seven points overall in that span. Lindholm has five points in three games since returning from an upper-body injury and Staal ran his point streak to four straight.

“Most important thing is they’re doing it playing against everybody’s best at home,” Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said. “They’re taking on tough matchups each and every shift and more often than not, they win it.”

Justin Faulk, Brett Pesce and Teuvo Teravainen also scored for Carolina. Cam Ward made 28 saves.

John Tavares scored twice for the Islanders a night after recording a hat trick against the Panthers. Thomas Greiss gave up all seven goals on 43 shots before being pulled.

Carolina outshot New York 45-32.

The Islanders appeared in control early. Tavares and Anders Lee scored in the first period, and Jason Chimera made it 3-1 early in the second when he came streaking down the middle uncovered and buried a slick pass from Anthony Beauvillier in the left corner.

Then Lindholm, McGinn and the rest of the Canes jumped into gear, with a kick start from the Islanders defense.

Shortly after Chimera’s goal, Faulk unleased a wrist shot from the faceoff circle that was saved by Greiss, but Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield inadvertently kicked the rebound through Greiss’ legs and into the net.

“I thought they put a lot of pressure on our defense,” Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. “We need to win the close battles in front of the net. To me that was the difference.”

The miscue in their favor got the Hurricanes rolling, and they took off from there.

McGinn and Lindholm teamed up to tie it with a brilliant rush down the ice, with McGinn dishing a perfect cross-ice pass for Lindholm to bury past Greiss along the far post with 11:02 left in the second.

“Ginner is playing with a lot of confidence and I think Lindy has helped with that,” Staal said. “It’s great to see.”

Pesce gave the Hurricanes their first lead when he redirected McGinn’s saucer pass on the move along the far post late in the second.

Tavares briefly pulled the Islanders back into a tie, but Stempniak collected the loose puck off a faceoff in the right circle and fired a pristine wrist shot just under the crossbar over Greiss’ shoulder to give Carolina the lead one final time.

“It was a great faceoff,” Stempniak said. “It felt like it was put on a tee for me, which was nice.”

NOTES: Teravainen and Staal closed out the scoring for Carolina. … It was McGinn’s first career four-point game. … The Hurricanes improved to 5-0-0 this season when wearing their black alternate home jerseys. … Tavares appeared to have a hat trick for the second straight night, but his second goal was credited instead to Lee after multiple revisions. … There were no penalties called in the game.

UP NEXT

Islanders: Finish a three-game trip at Boston on Monday before returning home to start a six-game homestand.

Hurricanes: Visit the NHL-best Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night, exactly one week after beating them 5-3 at home.