The New York Islanders tied a team record with three shorthanded goals as they defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 6-3 in Raleigh. Mike Sillinger scored twice while killing penalties for New York, which won its fourth straight road game. Wade Dubielewicz made 44 saves to earn the victory in his first NHL game since December 31st.

The win gave New York three points in the home-and-home series against Carolina. The Hurricanes came back to win 3-2 in overtime Monday afternoon on Long Island. The teams split the season series with each team winning both of its road games.

Sillinger opened the scoring with the Isles a man down at the 8:11 mark of the first period. Trent Hunter sent the puck behind the goal and three Carolina players followed him back there. That gave Sillinger all the room he needed to put the puck behind Cam Ward and give the Isles a 1-0 lead.

Richard Park's speed was the main cause of the second shorthanded tally which gave New York a 2-1 lead early in the second period. Sillinger also scored while the Islanders were killing off the same penalty to defenseman Andy Sutton and the Isles extended their lead to 3-1.

"We're not out to score any goals" while shorthanded, Sillinger said. "We knew that they have forwards that play the point, and if we could get a chance to take advantage of it, we would. But we weren't out there to score goals. We just got some good bounces, some breakaways."

Sean Bergenheim scored to make it 4-1 at the 7:52 mark of the second period. While this goal was not shorthanded, it was scored while the Islander forward was being pulled down and a penalty would have been called had the puck not gone in. For Bergenheim, the goal ended a 12-game goal scoring drought.

The Hurricanes bounced back to make a game of it. Goals by Mike Commodore in the second period and Matt Cullen early in the third pulled Carolina to within one and must have given the Islanders a sense of deja vu. The Isles had blown two goal leads in their last two games.

"To be honest with you, there was some concern," Islanders' coach Ted Nolan admitted. "But to overcome a situation like that, you have to just jump back on the horse. We didn't shorten the bench too much and we put the same people out there."

"They definitely had the pressure on us," Dubielewicz said. "We're a little fragile right now playing with a lead late in the game, so we needed a game like this to get a little confidence back."

The confidence was reinforced by late goals by Brendan Witt and Blake Comeau. The rookie forward continued his strong play, scoring the empty-netter that sealed the game and assisting on Witt's goal. Comeau now has three points in his last two games.

The Islanders have just one game remaining before the All-Star break which will be Thursday night in Boston. They are five points behind the first place Devils in the Atlantic Division and find themselves in seventh place in the Eastern Conference.

Notes

The Islanders announced that defenseman Chris Campoli would undergo surgery on Thursday to repair a torn ligament in his shoulder. Campoli will miss the rest of the season. In 46 games this year, the 23-year-old Mississauga, Ontario, native scored four goals and had 18 points.

The Islanders scored three shorthanded goals in one game twice before in their history. Dave Scatchard, Mike Watt and Olli Jokinen scored against the Senators on March 2, 2000, and John Tonelli, Butch Goring and Anders Kallur tallied while a man down against Washington on December 22, 1983.

The Islanders also signed defenseman Freddy Meyer to a two-year contract extension yesterday. The deal was for just under $1.2 million according to published reports. Meyer has played well for the Islanders this season. He was placed on waivers and claimed by Phoenix at the beginning of the year, but the Isles claimed him back when the Coyotes tried to recall him from the minors. GM Garth Snow described Meyer as "one of our better defensemen."