The Florida Panthers held off the New York Islanders 3-2 in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Qualifier Series at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Wednesday. The Panthers now trail 2-1 in the best-of-five series and will play Game 4 on Friday. It was the first time that the Panthers won a playoff elimination contest since Game 6 and Game 7 against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1996 Eastern Conference Finals.
After a scoreless first period, Florida was able to score the first goal of the contest, for the third time in the series, on the power play. Mike Hoffman ripped a slap shot from the right circle which was saved and Evgenii Dadonov swept the rebound from the crease area. Erik Haula got to the loose puck in the low left circle and released a high wrist shot by Semyon Varlamov at 4:02 of the second period. It was the first goal by Haula in a Panthers uniform.
New York tied the game up 1-1 with 3:34 left in the second. Anthony Beauvillier raced for the puck in the left corner after he dumped it in from the red line. He centered it to the right circle and Jean-Gabriel Pageau snapped a shot past Sergei Bobrovsky for the tally.
The Panthers got the momentum with two goals in the first three minutes of the third period. After Varlamov was called for playing the puck outside the trapezoid, Florida scored with the man advantage 41 seconds in. Aleksander Barkov put the puck back from the left wing to Keith Yandle at the top of the zone. He fed it to the right circle and Hoffman blasted a one-time slap shot.
The Cats made it a two-goal margin 3-1 at the 2:48 mark. Devon Toews attempted a backhand clearing pass from the slot area. Brian Boyle recovered the puck in the high slot and made a quick snap shot into the Isles cage.
The Islanders pulled their goalie with three minutes remaining for an extra attacker. It worked as Ryan Pulock made a slap pass from the top of the zone and Brock Nelson tapped in a shot from the left goal line off the skate of Aaron Ekblad with 1:27 left.
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