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Hurricanes score four power-play goals to down Islanders

Dec 23, 2006 - 4:34 AM RALEIGH, North Carolina (Ticker) -- Every time the New York Islanders made a mistake, Rod Brind'Amour and the Carolina Hurricanes made them pay.

Brind'Amour had a goal and two assists and Justin Williams added his 16th goal as the Hurricanes scored four power-play tallies for their third consecutive victory, a 5-1 triumph over the New York Islanders.

Last season's Selke Trophy winner, Brind'Amour recorded his seventh three-point game of the campaign by scoring his first goal in 11 contests since netting a pair against Washington on November 17.

"Some nights, you're not doing anything different, the puck just took the bounces," Brind'Amour said. "We had a few rebounds go in and things happened that hadn't happened in other games. We get a few of those and the game (is) over right there."

The Hurricanes opened the scoring at 3:54 of the first period when Brind'Amour fired a bad-angle shot over sprawling goaltender Rick DiPietro during a 5-on-3 power play for his 11th goal.

"I think the power play has gotten lots of looks in the past two games and hasn't gotten rewarded, so it is nice to get a bounce and a break," Hurricanes coach Peter Laviolette said. "There was good puck movement and we're starting to get a comfort level with both teams."

"It was one of those games," Islanders coach Ted Nolan said. "We got behind the eight ball in the first period real quick. Anytime they had a power play, they seemed to put it in easily. We needed a better penalty kill. It seemed to set the tone for a bad result."

Carolina doubled the margin with a man advantage with 7:02 left in the opening session. DiPietro stopped Ray Whitney's shot, but the rebound flew past Islanders center Shawn Bates directly to Williams, who scored.

"If you look at our goals, they were all second-chance opportunities," Williams said. "They were always trapped in front of the net and guys battling for second whacks for rebounds. That's the secret to the power play."

Erik Cole netted his 14th tally from the slot at 1:53 of the second period by knocking in a rebound of Cory Stillman's shot from the left faceoff circle past DiPietro's left pad for a 3-0 lead.

Carolina took advantage of Mike Sillinger's hooking penalty moments later when Eric Belanger fired a blast from the right circle that found the top-right corner for his seventh goal.

Stillman picked up his third assist of the night early in the third period by stealing DiPietro's clearing attempt and finding Scott Walker, who lifted the puck under the crossbar for a 5-0 bulge.

"You jump in as fast as you can and I feel comfortable playing," Stillman said. "Maybe I'm a little rested compared to everyone else and it will pay off in the long run."

Reigning Conn Smythe winner Cam Ward made 24 saves for Carolina, but lost his shutout bid when Chris Simon scored at 8:09 of the final period.

"We've been just stagnant really all year," Ward said. "We haven't made a move. We need to put some wins together to get ahead of the pack. We're right smack in the middle. Three (is) not enough."

DiPietro stopped 30 shots and fell to 14-10-1 for the Islanders, who lost for the first time to the Hurricanes in three encounters this season.

"They came out hard and they played a good game," DiPietro said. "They capitalized on their power-play chances. We couldn't catch it back up. We harped on it after the Rangers game (Tuesday) that we can't have a letdown. ... It's a terrible excuse to lose a game."