Islanders lose in overtime to Panthers after Kyle Palmieri's late tying goal
Semyon Varlamov of the Islanders looks on after surrendering a third-period goal against Matthew Tkachuk of the Panthers at UBS Arena on Saturday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Islanders keep seeing wins on the horizon. But that’s where they’re staying for now.
“I really liked our game,” new coach Patrick Roy said. “Overall, if we could have scored here or there, it would have been different. I love the progression of our team. Tonight, it looked like a team that played a playoff hockey game.”
The Panthers scored twice on the power play and beat the Islanders up ice for defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s winner at 1:57 of overtime in a 3-2 victory on Saturday night at UBS Arena.
The Islanders (20-17-12) head into the eight-day All-Star break having lost three straight after winning Roy’s debut.
“I thought both teams did a pretty good job defending five-on-five,” said Kyle Palmieri, who tied it at 2-2 at 18:31 of the third period with a one-timer off defenseman Noah Dobson’s cross-ice feed from the right. “There were some chances out there, but there wasn’t a ton. It was a little bit of a chess match.”
The Islanders, who have 33 games remaining, next play in Toronto on Feb. 5. They are in fourth place in the Metropolitan Division, five points out of a wild-card spot.
“We’ve got to come back hungry,” said Dobson, whose assist was his career-high 52nd point. “We’ve got to be motivated. I’ve liked a lot of our game. We could have easily had a couple of more wins. That’s a big point. Obviously you want two. We’ve just got to keep plugging away. It’s going to turn here.”
Roy stuck with Semyon Varlamov, his former No. 1 netminder with the Avalanche, rather than turning back to franchise goalie Ilya Sorokin.
Varlamov (34 saves) had an excellent game as he played in consecutive matches for the first time this season. He had returned from a lower-body injury to make 22 saves in Thursday night’s 4-3 loss in Montreal.
“After playing both games, physically and mentally, I felt pretty sharp today,” he said.
Sorokin had started 10 straight games and made 15 straight appearances before Thursday’s game.
“Ilya has been playing so many games, I thought it was good for him to rest a bit and give Varly a chance,” Roy said. “Both goalies are going to be ready when we come back. It’s very close in the standings, so we’re going to need both goaltenders. But we all understand there’s a push that has to be made at some point.”
The Panthers (31-14-4), who got 21 saves from a sharp Anthony Stolarz, have won four straight and 13 of their last 17.
They took a 2-1 lead at 5:59 of the third period on Matthew Tkachuk’s power-play tip at the crease through Varlamov’s pads.
The Panthers’ Sam Reinhart extended his point streak to 13 games with his 14th goal in that span, a power-play one-timer from between the circles to open the scoring at 7:56 of the second period.
Simon Holmstrom tied it at 1-1 at 16:29 of the second period from between the circles.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
