Raleigh, NC (My Sportsbook) - The
New York Islanders try to put the brakes on a two-game losing streak tonight when they visit the Carolina Hurricanes at the RBC Center.
New York dropped matches to Philadelphia and Phoenix to close out a four-game homestand, including Tuesday night's 3-2 loss against the Coyotes. Mark Parrish and Alexei Yashin tallied first-period power-play goals to hand the Isles a 2-0 lead, but Phoenix came back with a pair of scores its own in the second and won by virtue of Landon Wilson's marker late in the third.
Roman Hamrlik added two assists in the losing cause, while goaltender Garth Snow halted 18 shots. Snow, starting in place of a struggling Chris Osgood, kept his club in the contest with several stellar saves throughout the night. He received the nod because Osgood is 3-3 with a 4.39 goals-against average and horrid .786 save percentage in six starts.
New York, 1-1-1 away from home, makes a short road stop tonight and will host St. Louis on Saturday.
Carolina, meanwhile, begins a mammoth nine-game homestand this evening, and is 3-1-1 in its last five games. On Tuesday night the Canes skated into New Jersey and defeated the surging Devils for the second time in the young season. Jaroslav Svoboda and Jeff O'Neill provided the goals, with O'Neill snapping a 1-1 tie 6:28 into the second period.
O'Neill extended his career-high points streak to nine games. He has three goals and eight assists in that time.
Goaltender Kevin Weekes continued his strong play in place of Arturs Irbe, who seems to have lost his starting job. Weekes made 34 saves, including 16 in the second period alone, and improved to 4-2-1 with a 1.92 goals-against average and .939 save-percentage. Irbe is 0-3-0 with a 4.35 GAA and .833 SP, and has not played in a week.
Carolina resumes its current set on Friday versus Montreal. The Flyers, Sabres, Penguins, Coyotes, Flyers again, Lightning and Senators will also visit during the stand.
The Canes defeated the Isles, 4-1, in Uniondale on October 22 and have won five of the last eight meetings overall. New York has, however, won in two straight trips to Raleigh.
