SUNRISE — After shutting out the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-0 on Saturday, the New York Islanders failed to sweep the back-to-back, falling 4-1 to the Florida Panthers on Sunday evening.
The Islanders were 4-0-0 on the second leg of back-to-backs prior to this game.
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Here’s how it happened:
Goaltender David Rittich did a phenomenal job tracking pucks early, but a seeing-eye shot from Uvis Balinskis at 12:14 of the first gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead:
That snapped the Islanders’ three-game streak of scoring first.
The Islanders’ fourth line started to shift momentum, ever so slightly, garnering some chances.
Kyle MacLean got a glorious feed from Casey Cizikas but he rang the left post at 19:16 of the first.
The Panthers took a 2-0 lead at 7:05 of the second period after Maxim Shabanov committed his second turnover of the shift and third mistake. After making a great read in the offensive zone, he waited too long to shoot, leading to a blocked shot.
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Then, as he tried to get a cycle going down low, he didn’t get enough on the pass, turning the puck over. He made a strong effort to get back — which he did –, but then he turned the puck over to Carter Verhaeghe, who ripped the rubber glove side:
Head coach Patrick Roy swapped Shabanov with Simon Holmstrom for the remainder of the game.
Mathew Barzal got the Islanders on the board at 9:03 of the second. He received a quick feed from Matthew Schaefer stationed at the point, before his backhander went off of Florida defenseman Gustav Forsling’s behind and in:
The Islanders couldn’t get the equalizer before the second period came to a close.
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In the third period, the Islanders struggled to create much, with just three shots on goal.
During 4-on-4 play, Seth Jones scored off the rush at 13:57 of the third after Tony DeAngelo and Matthew Schaefer got crossed up:
Sam Reinhart added an empty-net goal at 17:05 of the third for the 4-1 final.
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