The New York Islanders head into the Christmas break with a win after defeating the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 in Raleigh on Saturday night.

The New York Islanders head into the Christmas break with a win after defeating the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 in Raleigh on Saturday night.

Here's how it happened: 

After Hurricanes netminder Pyotr Kochetkov denied Brock Nelson's backhand attempt, then Kyle Palmieri's rebound try, Sebastian Aho fluttered one from the point to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 11:19 of the first for his first of the season. 

The Hurricanes answered just 1:03 later as after Ilya Sorokin robbed Seth Jarvis on a backdoor try following a Dmitry Orlov pass, Teuvo Teravainen tapped home a loose puck to tie the game at 1-1.

After Nelson was thrown out of the face-off dot, he was the beneficiary of a Mike Reilly feed in the high slot. His quick spin shot beat Kochetkov at 14:43 of the first to give New York a 2-1 lead.

That was Nelson's team-leading 16th goal of the season. 

On a slick zone entry by Mathew Barzal, before a tap pass to Anders Lee, which he returned, Bo Horvat shanked a shot blocker side from inside the right face-off dot. But with Kochetkov sliding and losing his stick in the netting, the puck bounced off the blocker and in, as the Islanders went up 3-1 with 18:25 to play in the first on Horvat's 14th of the season. 

Just eight seconds into their second power play of the night, the other Sebastian Aho beat Sorokin blocker side 59 seconds into the second to make it a 3-2 game. 

Mike Reilly sent a knuckler toward goal from just inside the blue line, and it fooled Kochetkov, beating him blocker side as New York took a 4-2 lead at 14:12 of the middle frame. 

That was Reilly's second goal of the season, both coming since being claimed off waivers by the Islanders. 

Jaccob Slavin cut the Islanders' lead to 4-3 at 1:56 of the third after he rifled one through Palmieri and then passed a screened Sorokin. 

Just 1:48 seconds later, Lee catches Kochetkov napping as he beat him five-hole on a no-look shot to give New York a 5-3 lead. 

That was Lee's 250th career goal. 

The Hurricanes answered on the power play at 9:17 of the third to cut the Islanders lead to 5-4. After Alexander Romanov blocked a back-door feed, the puck landed right onto Stefan Noesen's stick, which he deposited into the wide-open cage as Sorokin slid. 

With 5:11 to play in the third, the Hurricanes believed they tied the game after catching the Islanders on a weak change, but after review, it was deemed that Martin Necas kicked the puck into the net. 

The Islanders held on for the win as they head into the Christmas break as the second seed in a tight Metropolitan Division. 

UP NEXT: The Islanders host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night after the Christmas break. 

LINES:

Anders Lee - Bo Horvat - Mathew Barzal

Pierre Engvall - Brock Nelson - Kyle Palmieri

Simon Holmstrom - Jean-Gabriel Pageau - Julien Gauthier

Hudson Fasching - Casey Cizikas - Cal Clutterbuck

Alex Romanov - Noah Dobson

Samuel Bolduc - Robert Bortuzzo

Mike Reilly - Sebastian Aho

Ilya Sorokin

Semyon Varlamov