Islanders Edge Panthers

The Florida Panthers played their last home game as they wore their alternate two-toned blue jerseys for the final time after three seasons on Sunday. The Cats fell to the New York Islanders 3-2 in a shootout at the Bank Atlantic Center. The Panthers drew first blood in the game as Stephen Weiss scored his 19th goal of the season at 5:05. Tomas Fleischmann got to the puck first behind the Islanders cage and passed to Weiss to the right edge of the crease. He roofed the wrist shot past the left shoulder of Evgeny Nabakov for the 1-0 lead. The Islanders had the man advantage in the final four minutes of the second period and were able to capitalize at 18:57. Matt Moulson pulled off a give-and-go pass with John Tavares in the slot area and scored on the power play to tie the game. In the third period, Florida retook the lead at 9:51 on a giveaway by Mark Streit in his own defensive zone. He passed the puck up the left side from behind the Islanders net and bounced off the body of Tomas Kopecky on who was hugging the wall. Fleischmaan got the puck in the right circle and fired a slap shot by Nabakov for his 24th goal. New York climbed back at 12:22 to tie the game at 2-2 as Kyle Okposo blasted a slap shot from the top left circle that deflected off a defenseman's stick in the low slot area and into the net. Both teams had a chance to win overtime. Frans Nielsen and Michael Grabner of the Islanders both had shots blocked by Theodore who was on his belly in the low slot area with 1:20 left. Brian Campbell took a wrist shot from the high slot area which Nabakov made a glove save with one minute remaining. Only one person scored in the shootout and that was Nielsen of New York. He faked a forehand and went backhand on Theodore during the Islanders first attempt. Florida failed on all their three attempts in which they were stoned by Nabakov. The Panthers now lead the Washington Capitals and the Buffalo Sabres by three points. The Cats will head for the road for their next four consecutive games. They will play in Montreal, Minnesota, Columbus and Detroit.