Another shutout for Isles

RALEIGH, N.C. — After allowing 19 goals in his previous four games, Thomas Greiss finally had the breakthrough night he and the Islanders were looking for.

Greiss stopped 45 shots for his first shutout of the season, and the Islanders beat the Hurricanes 3-0 on Friday night.

“He was great,” coach Doug Weight said. “He was confident. He came in and did a job. He made the saves he had to.”

Johnny Boychuk, Anthony Beauvillier and John Tavares scored for the Islanders, who moved past the Hurricanes into the second wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference. Greiss got his eighth career shutout one night after Jaroslav Halak had 50 saves in the Isles’ first shutout of the season, a 3-0 Barclays Center win against the crosstown-rival Rangers.

“It was a huge win for us, especially after emotional last night at home,” center Brock Nelson said. “Both goaltenders were crucial. That was a big push for us, to get four points.”

Cam Ward finished with 20 saves for the Hurricanes, who lost their second straight and fell into a tie with the Blue Jackets one point behind the Islanders for the conference’s last playoff spot.

Jeff Skinner had his game-tying goal in the third period waved off after a replay review ruled he was offside when he entered the zone.

Carolina failed to get a better scoring chance despite getting nearly twice as many shots.

“We owed [Greiss] at least one good game in front of him,” Beauvillier said. “He was really good tonight. He made some unbelievable stops.”

Greiss’ work bought the Islanders’ offense time to get going, and it finally broke through near the midpoint of the second period with Boychuk’s slap shot that wiggled and elevated over Ward’s shoulder into the upper left corner of the net for his fourth of the season.

Beauvillier put the game away at 12:00 in the third period. He picked up a mishandled pass at the Islanders blue line, split two Carolina defenders, skated the length of the ice and pushed a shot under Ward’s pads despite being hooked by Noah Hanifin.

Tavares was awarded a goal, his 30th, after he was tripped from behind as he approached the empty net with 32 seconds left to finish it.