Staal scores again, Ward makes 26 in Hurricanes’ 3rd straight win

Staal, Ward lead Hurricanes to 3rd straight win

RALEIGH, N.C. — Cam Ward made 26 saves, and new captain Eric Staal scored his third goal in two games as the Carolina Hurricanes won their third straight by beating the New York Islanders 4-1 on Thursday night.

Matt Cullen, Stephane Yelle and Jussi Jokinen added goals for the surging Hurricanes, who have won four of five. Since replacing Rod Brind’Amour as captain on Jan. 21, Staal has eight goals in five games. He scored twice in a road win over the New York Rangers on Wednesday night.

Ward has only allowed three goals in his last three games.

Matt Moulson scored with 4:31 remaining to spoil Ward’s shutout bid. Rick DiPietro made 19 saves for the Islanders, who have lost three consecutive games.

Carolina (18-28-7), despite having the worst record in the Eastern Conference, has played its best hockey of the season in the past week. The Hurricanes beat Boston and the Rangers by identical 5-1 scores in their previous two games.

They flashed that strong recent form midway through the first period against the Islanders, scoring twice in less than 3 minutes to take an early 2-0 lead.

With Islanders forward Josh Bailey off for tripping, Staal skated out from the goal line to DiPietro’s left, shot the puck into the goalie’s pads, and scored off the rebound. The Hurricanes have eight power-play goals in their last five games.

Cullen then took advantage of Tom Kostopoulos’ screen and snapped a wrist shot over DiPietro’s glove. Cullen also assisted on Staal’s goal.

New York controlled play for large portions of the first period and had numerous scoring chances. But the Islanders couldn’t get the puck past Ward and didn’t have many quality opportunities in the final two periods.

Yelle scored a short-handed goal to put the Hurricanes ahead 3-0 with 10:20 remaining. Jokinen sealed the win with an empty-net goal.

The Islanders are 13th in the East, but teams in places six through 13 started the night within one point.

NOTES: Ward played in his 21st straight game. New York D Jack Hillen missed his first game after being struck in the face by Alex Ovechkin’s slap shot on Tuesday. He sustained a broken jaw and damaged teeth and is expected to be out six to eight weeks. … New York had won the two previous games in the season series 4-3. The teams will finish the series Feb. 6 on Long Island.