Panthers Stomp Islanders

     The Florida Panthers continued their four-game road trip and got a 5-1 victory over the New York Islanders on Tuesday night at Barclays Center. It is the first time the Panthers have visited Brooklyn for a game. The Islanders moved from the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale this past summer after over four decades in that facility.
     The Islanders dominated the first period as they outshot the Panthers by nineteen shots. Neither club was able to score in the first stanza.
     In the second period, Florida jumped out to the lead on their fourth shot of the contest as Reilly Smith scored his ninth goal of the season. A clearing pass up the middle was stopped by Dylan Olsen at the top of the zone. He sent a pass down to Smith in the right circle for a one-time slapshot by Jaroslav Halak. Smith scored his third goal in the last four games and Olsen compiled his first point since January.
     The Panthers expanded their margin at the seven-minute mark. Frans Nielsen blindly backhanded the puck to in front of his own net. Aleksander Barkov moved into the slot and scored an unassisted goal on a backhand shot for his seventh tally of the campaign.
     The Islanders cut the lead down to a one-goal margin later in the frame. Brock Nelson crossed the blue line and outleted a pass to his right. Marek Zidlicky released a shot from the top right circle and was redirected into the Panthers cage by Nelson.
     The Cats responded quickly and scored 20 seconds later. Barkov had the puck on the right point and passed across to Brandon Pirri. His soft pass went to Aaron Ekblad in the top left circle and he snapped a shot in. Florida had three goals on their first eight shots on net.
     Florida got a three-goal cushion early in the third period. Jussi Jokinen passed from the right corner to Vincent Trocheck at the right-circle dot for a one-time slapshot. They extended their margin to four goals when Jonathan Huberdeau was credited a shorthanded empty-net goal after he was pulled down at the top of the Isles zone and had a clear path to the net.