RALEIGH, N.C. — Andrei Svechnikov had two goals and an assist to lead the Hurricanes to a 6-3 victory over the Islanders on Thursday night in the season opener for both teams.
Teuvo Teravainen added a goal and an assist for Carolina, which featured a new-look roster in a matchup of Eastern Conference playoff contenders. Returnees Jesper Fast, Jordan Martinook and Nino Niederreiter also scored while Frederik Andersen finished with 25 saves in his debut for the Hurricanes.
Mathew Barzal, Brock Nelson and Anders Lee each scored goals for the Islanders, while Ilya Sorokin finished with 35 saves.
The Islanders are starting with a daunting challenge: a 13-game road trip while construction is completed on their new home, UBS Arena at Belmont Park. The Islanders will not have a home game until Nov. 20.
Cal Clutterbuck takes a hit from the Hurricanes’ Tony DeAngelo during the season opener for both teams. AP“I think everybody was fired up, knew it was going to be tough,” Nelson said of the Islanders’ performance. “You’d like to come out with a win, but you learn from some of the things we did tonight and some of the things we did wrong.”
The Islanders enter this season with heightened expectations to contend for a championship after two straight trips to the semifinals of the Stanley Cup playoffs, falling to eventual champion Tampa Bay.
“We seemed to have had some difficulty with them and just finding plays,” Barzal said. “I didn’t feel like we could make that second play. We were kind of getting in the zone and it was the next play we couldn’t make.”
Svechnikov and Teravainen came together on the Hurricanes’ first goal. Svechnikov established position atop the crease to tap Teravainen’s shot past Sorokin at 9:15 of the first period.
Teravainen scored on a power play at 11:36 of the third period, taking a feed from new addition Tony DeAngelo, the former Ranger, and putting home a one-timer on the right side.
Svechnikov was credited with an assist on Teravainen’s goal, then added a clinching empty-netter in the final minute. It was a strong start for the 21-year-old, who agreed to an eight-year contract in August to remain with the franchise that drafted him at No. 2 overall in 2018.
“He was pretty dominant tonight,” Brind’Amour said. “It seemed like he had the puck every time he was on the ice.”
The Hurricanes, who have made the playoffs three straight years, have eight new players on the opening-night roster in hopes of making a deeper postseason push.
Carolina was playing in front of its first full-capacity crowd (18,680) at PNC Arena since February 2020, shortly before the NHL paused its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
