Jarvis, Aho shine as Hurricanes hold off Islanders for 6-4 victory

Chip Alexander, The News & Observer on Mar 30, 2025

Published in Hockey

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RALEIGH, N.C. — While the Carolina Hurricanes are on a glide path to the Stanley Cup playoffs, the New York Islanders are still scratching and clawing to get in.

Those were the words Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour used about the Isles before Sunday’s game: “scratching and clawing.” It fit, too, as the Islanders gave the Canes a hard push.

The Hurricanes held on for a 6-4 victory at the Lenovo Center as forward Seth Jarvis had a pair of goals and grabbed a piece of a franchise record with his fifth shorthanded score of the season.

Jarvis, who teams so well with Sebastian Aho on the penalty kill, tied the mark set by Kevyn Adams in 2003-04 and also tied the winger for the NHL lead this season.

Dmitry Orlov’s sixth goal of the season pushed the Canes ahead 5-4 at 9:19 of the third and was the game-winner. It came after Carolina’s Tyson Jost won a faceoff in the New York zone, Orlov unleashing a big slapshot to beat goalie Marcus Hogberg and then thrusting a fist in celebration..

“That thing was heavy,” Jarvis said.

“An absolute bomb,” Sebastian Aho added.

Aho had a power-play goal and two assists, and Mark Jankowski and Logan Stankoven scored 13 seconds apart early in the game for the Canes in the Metro Division game. Jarvis’ second goal, off an Aho pass, made it 6-4 and was his 29th.

The Canes (45-24-4) played Sunday without captain Jordan Staal, out with a minor lower-body injury, but Jost was a late addition to the lineup and had a pair of assists.

“You’ve got to find ways,” Brind’Amour said. ”Obviously, I think it wasn’t the prettiest of games, but there were actually some very nice goals, the good and the bad maybe mixed in there. And our penalty kill was really good tonight.”

Pierre Engvall scored a pair of goals for the Islanders (32-31-10), playing the second of a back-to-back set on the road, and Kyle Palmieri had a power-play score. New York’s Anders Lee tied the score 4-4 in the third, sneaking behind defenseman Brent Burns for a backdoor score off a Bo Horvat pass.

The Canes were in the position Sunday of being able to clinch a playoff spot for the seventh straight season, needing a win over the Islanders and a Montreal Canadiens loss at Florida.

But the Canadiens won, beating the Panthers to move into the second playoff wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with 77 points. The Habs’ victory left the Islanders three points behind.

“We’ve got to understand the desperation level of the other team, if they’re in that spot,” Brind’Amour said before the game. “You know they’re going to fight for everything they have.”

The Islanders were at Tampa Bay on Saturday, falling behind 4-0 before losing 5-3. Then, they fell behind 2-0 Sunday in the first five minutes at the Lenovo Center.

Jankowski and Stankoven scored 13 seconds apart – for Jankowski, his seventh goal in 10 games with Carolina. Jankowski’s goal came on a rush off a nice Eric Robinson pass, and Stankoven punched in a shot at the post.

Those quick hitters had the crowd roaring but not the Islanders reeling.

Engvall scored off the rush, beating goalie Pyotr Kochetkov with a wrister to the glove side. Palmieri then tied it 2-2 on the power play, pawing down the rebound of a Noah Dobson shot by the crease and scoring against the league’s top penalty killers.

Engvall’s second of the game pushed the Isles ahead 3-2 in the second, but the Canes then were the team that rallied.

Aho first scored on the power play, blasting a shot from the right circle. Then, after Robinson came inches from scoring, the puck rolling along the goal line, the Canes got the shorthanded goal from Jarvis on a shot from the right wing that beat Hogberg to the blocker side.

Canes defenseman Jaccob Slavin started the scoring sequence by winning a board battle and getting the puck to Aho. Jarvis took a pass from Aho and took it from there for the 4-3 lead through two periods.

“There’s no set play on the PK,” Aho said. “We had ‘Slavo’ knock the puck down, and I ended up getting it. I had time to turn and look, and obviously ‘Jarvy’ is out there flying.”

After the Jarvis goal, the Canes killed off the last of the high-sticking double-minor against defenseman Jalen Chatfield.

Kochetkov was fighting the puck at times Sunday and was beaten twice by Engvall on lengthy shots he would have liked to stop.

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