NHL

Carolina Hurricanes at New York Islanders

· National Hockey League

Aho scores in overtime as Hurricanes rally past Islanders 4-3

Sebastian Aho goes five-hole to score Canes' OT winner

Jesperi Kotkaniemi had a goal and an assist, Jalen Chatfield and Dmitry Orlov also scored and Andrei Svechnikov had two assists for Carolina, which has won four of five. Antti Raanta had 22 saves.

Aho scored in the extra period just after Raanta denied Ryan Pulock’s point-blank shot.

“They had one chance and we had one chance in overtime,″ Aho said. ”Good thing I was able to bury that one.”

Mathew Barzal had a goal and an assist, and Noah Dobson and Simon Holmstrom also scored for the Islanders, who are 3-0-2 in their last five games. Bo Horvat had two assists, and Ilya Sorokin finished with 43 saves.

“They come hard and we just didn’t make enough plays in the third,” Islanders coach Lane Lambert said. “We turned it over and they continued to come back.”

Dobson opened the scoring with 2:20 left in the first period with the teams skating 4-on-4. The defenseman skated in close on Raanta before flipping a backhand past the goalie for his third goal of the season. Dobson leads the Islanders with 10 points (three goals, seven assists).

Holmstrom made it 2-0 with a short-handed goal at 4:11 of the second, completing a give-and-go with Jean-Gabriel Pageau for his third.

Barzal extended the lead to 3-0 with his second goal of the season at 7:46 as his high shot from the right wing eluded Raanta.

It was all Hurricanes after that as Carolina fired 32 shots at Sorokin in the final two periods.

Chatfield broke through just 32 seconds after Barzal's goal with his first of the season at 8:18 of the second.

"We got to our game of getting pucks to the net," Chatfield said.

Orlov narrowed the gap to 3-2 with 7:41 remaining in the third when his shot eluded Sorokin for his first with Carolina after signing as a free agent in the offseason.

“We had a pretty good game and had some breaks," Orlov said. ”We needed this one, especially against a division team."

Kotkaniemi tied the score on the power play with 4:34 left, scoring his fifth from in front as time was expiring on Scott Mayfield’s hooking penalty.

The Islanders have earned points in five straight games — including two shutout wins on the road — but have squandered multi-goal leads in three straight home games, beating Ottawa 3-2 on Oct. 26 and falling to Detroit 4-3 in overtime last Monday.

"We're certainly hoping that's not a trend," Lambert said. “It's not a recipe for success.”

UP NEXT

Hurricanes: Host Buffalo on Tuesday night.

Islanders: Host Minnesota on Tuesday night.

Regular Season Series

CAR leads series 1-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 17:40 Noah Dobson Goal (3) Backhand, assists: Mathew Barzal (6), Bo Horvat (4)
Goal 2nd Period 4:11 Simon Holmstrom Goal (3) Wrist Shot, assists: Jean-Gabriel Pageau (4)
Goal 2nd Period 7:46 Mathew Barzal Goal (2) Wrist Shot, assists: Bo Horvat (5), Ryan Pulock (2)
Goal 2nd Period 8:18 Jalen Chatfield Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Jordan Martinook (2), Jordan Staal (4)
Goal 3rd Period 12:19 Dmitry Orlov Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Jesperi Kotkaniemi (7), Andrei Svechnikov (2)
Goal 3rd Period 15:26 Jesperi Kotkaniemi Goal (5) Wrist Shot, assists: Andrei Svechnikov (3)
Goal 4th Period 1:14 Sebastian Aho Goal (2) Wrist Shot, assists: Martin Necas (6), Brady Skjei (7)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/car.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originCAR https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/nyi.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originNYI
7 Blocked Shots 28
22 Hits 21
7 Takeaways 6
46 Shots 25
1 Power Play Goals 0
3 Power Play Opportunities 1
33.3 Power Play Percentage 0.0
0 Short Handed Goals 1
0 Shootout Goals 0
35 Faceoffs Won 31
53.0 Faceoff Win Percent 47.0
5 Giveaways 15
2 Total Penalties 4
4 Penalty Minutes 8
New York Islanders New York Islanders Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Bo Horvat, C Day-To-Day Dec 21
Kyle Palmieri, C Injured Reserve Nov 30
Carolina Hurricanes Carolina Hurricanes Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Jordan Martinook, LW Day-To-Day Dec 21
Seth Jarvis, C Injured Reserve Dec 20

Game Information

UBS Arena

Location: Elmont, NY
Attendance: 17,255 | Capacity:

2025-26 Metropolitan Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Carolina 22 10 47 3
Washington 19 12 43 5
NY Islanders 19 13 42 4
Philadelphia 17 10 41 7
New Jersey 20 15 41 1
NY Rangers 18 16 40 4
Pittsburgh 15 11 39 9
Columbus 14 15 34 6
Full Standings