Panthers end Islanders' win streak at 3
Islanders center Bo Horvat and Florida Panthers center Anton Lundell face off at the Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on Sunday. Credit: Getty Images/Icon Sportswire
SUNRISE, Fla. – The injury-depleted Panthers haven’t been particularly good yet this season. But they are the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion.
So Sunday at Amerant Bank Arena still figured to be a challenge for the Islanders beyond their second faceoff in the Sunshine State in 22 hours.
Their game just never looked fully in sync in a 4-1 loss that snapped their three-game winning streak.
“I thought we got off to a pretty good start,” defenseman Adam Pelech said. “But I guess out of sync is a good way to put it. It definitely wasn’t our best.”
But coach Patrick Roy had a different take, even after conceding the Islanders (16-11-3), “could have been a little more connected,” as they struggled against the Panthers’ forecheck.
“I don’t know if the game was out of sync,” Roy said. “This is a team that plays a heavy game and they shorten the zone. I felt like it was an experience for our guys. I think we’re going to learn a lot from a game like this. We were right there until the end.”
Of course, the Islanders’ winning streak included two low-event wins against the Atlantic Division-leading Lightning and an impressive 6-3 victory over the NHL-best Avalanche. So they do have experience and confidence against the league’s elite.
But Bo Horvat’s counted-upon trio with Emil Heineman and Simon Holmstrom – after rookie Max Shabanov was swapped out after a two-turnover shift led to the Panthers’ second goal – could not impact the game and Horvat finished a minus-3. No. 1 overall pick Matthew Schaefer, even with an assist, had trouble matching his usual high standards.
“I was happy with them in tempo,” Roy said of Horvat’s trio. “You’re going to say Bo was minus-3 but, at the end of the day, Bo is playing a major role playing against the top line night after night. We could have been a little more connected, that’s something we didn’t do as well today. That was a tough schedule.”
Goalie David Rittich (26 saves) started for the first time in five games after Ilya Sorokin made 32 saves in Saturday night’s 2-0 win over the Lightning as he matched Chico Resch’s franchise record with his 25th career shutout.
The Panthers’ Daniil Tarasov stopped 20 shots as the Islanders were inconsistent in getting bodies to his crease or making his job particularly difficult.
“They were pretty good on the forecheck,” rookie center Cal Ritchie said. “We had a tough time breaking out. Not the result we wanted. But we’ll regroup and learn some things from tonight. It was hard to create a push.”
The Panthers (14-12-2) were coming off Saturday’s wild 7-6 overtime win over the visiting Blue Jackets and concluded their homestand 2-3-1 after being outscored 21-14 in the first five games. They’ve been without top forwards Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov all season and defenseman Dmitry Kulikov for 26 games.
Mathew Barzal brought the Islanders within 2-1 at 9:03 of the second period with a backhander in the slot off defenseman Gustav Forsling. But defenseman Seth Jones’ four-on-four goal gave the Panthers a 3-1 lead at 13:57 of the third period and Sam Reinhart clinched it with an empty-netter at 17:06.
The Islanders were outshot 8-3 over the final 20 minutes.
The Panthers also outshot the Islanders 9-0 during a first-period stretch of 12 minutes, 28 seconds, taking a 1-0 lead as defenseman Uvis Balinskis notched his first goal in 38 games at 12:14.
Carter Verhaeghe made it 2-0 at 7:05 of the second period as Shabanov lost the puck after hesitating on a shot in the offensive zone and again turned it over in the defensive zone. Roy then switched him to Ritchie’s line with Anthony Duclair.
“I think he’s learning very fast and very well,” Roy said of Shabanov. “He’s going to continue to learn.”
Notes & quotes: Center Jean-Gabriel Pageau (upper body) missed his eighth game…Third-pair defenseman Travis Mitchell logged 13:26 with two coincidental roughing minors as he drew back into the lineup after being a healthy scratch in favor of Adam Boqvist against the Lightning. “It’s a fathers’ trip,” said Roy, adding this weekend’s Boqvist-or-Mitchell decisions were made in collaboration with general manager Mathieu Darche. “It’s important that everybody plays.”
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.
More Islanders
