Sam Bennett Hat Trick Gets Panthers Over Islanders

     Sam Bennett scored his second career hat trick  as the Florida Panthers outscored the New York Islanders 5-1 at FLA Live Arena on Saturday night. It was a renewal of this rivalry in which both teams have faced each other in the Stanley Cup Playoffs twice in the last six seasons. 

     In the first period, Florida(2-0-0) got up 1-0. Gustav Forsling passed from the top of the zone to Radko Gudas above the right circle. Ilya Sorokin made a blocker save, however Bennett tapped in the rebound from the edge of the blue paint at the 9:10 mark. 

     The Panthers made it 2-0 on another tally by Bennett at 3:48 of the second period as he circled around the cage and made a wraparound forehand shot. Jonathan Huberdeau collected his 500th NHL point on the play with the primary assist. 

     It became 3-0 for the Cats with 1:03 left in the second. MacKenzie Weegar sent a long lead pass through the neutral zone to Anthony Duclair at the Islanders blue line and he scored on a breakaway with a backhand shot. Duclair now has a two-game goal streak. 

     New York(0-2-0) picked up their only goal of the contest on the power play at the 3:30 mark of the third period. Weegar coughed up the puck on the end wall and Oliver Wahlstrom snapped a shot from the low slot area by Sergei Bobrovsky. 

     Bennett placed his third goal of the game for the hat trick with 10:21 remaining in the third. He carried the puck from his own defensive zone to the high slot scored on a snap shot. Matt Kiersted chalked up his first NHL point with an assist. 

     Florida capped the scoring with 7:38 to go in the final frame. Aleksander Barkov got a tally as he charged through the slot area and scored on a flick shot from the crease. He has three points in the first two contests of the 2021-22 campaign.