Saturday, January 27, 2024

Panthers Squeak By Islanders

     The Florida Panthers played their final game before the NHL All-Star Game break and outdueled the New York Islanders 3-2 in overtime at UBS Arena on Saturday night. The Panthers next regular season game will be at home against the Philadelphia Flyers on February 6. 
     The Cats have won four straight contests. They also continued to expand their franchise road winning streak to eight games.
     Neither team scored in the first period. Florida(31-14-4) converted on the power play at the 7:56 mark of the second period. Carter Verhaeghe cycled the puck from the left wing to Matthew Tkachuk on the end wall. He centered it and Sam Reinhart snapped a shot from the slot area for his 37th goal this season. Reinhart set a Panthers franchise record with his 20th power-play goal of the season. 
     New York(20-17-12) would tie it 1-1 with 3:31 to go in the second. Tomas Holmstrom got to the loose puck and smacked a slap shot from the slot for his 12th goal of the campaign. 
     The Panthers regained the lead 2-1 with the man advantage at 5:59 of the third period. Aleksander Barkov released a wrist shot from the right circle and it was deflected in by Tkachuk from the right side of the crease for his 16th tally this season. 
     The Islanders pulled their goalie for an extra attacker and evened it up 2-2 with 1:29 to go in the third. Mathew Barzal handed the puck off to Noah Dobson on the right wing. He sent a diagonal pass and Kyle Palmieri ripped a snap shot from the low left circle for his 13th goal in 2023-24. 
     The Cats completed the victory at the 1:55 mark of overtime. Evan Rodrigues raced out of his own zone with the puck. He connected a pass from the right point and Oliver Ekman-Larsson put in a wrist shot from the inner left circle for his ninth goal with his new team. 

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