The New York Islanders will aim for their eighth consecutive win when they visit the Florida Panthers on Sunday.
New York continued its push for a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference by defeating Tampa Bay 3-2 in overtime on Saturday, closing the gap to just three points behind the Lightning for the second wild card.
Florida, on the other hand, will look to secure its third straight win after a 5-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday afternoon.
Tony DeAngelo scored just 33 seconds into overtime to give the Islanders the win. It was DeAngelo’s first goal since joining the Islanders as a free agent on January 24.
“Everybody’s dialed in. Obviously, it’s a four-point game if it goes the other way,” DeAngelo said. “Everyone knows where the standings are at and we have a long way to go, but these games mean a lot.”
Adam Boqvist and Kyle Palmieri also scored for the Islanders, while Simon Holmstrom had two assists. Goaltender Ilya Sorokin made 28 saves. Boqvist was playing in his first game for the Islanders after being claimed off waivers on Friday.
“The new guys, since they’ve been here, they’ve brought a lot of energy,” said forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau, referring to Boqvist and DeAngelo. “They seem to fit in really well and they want to be part of it to help us win.”
Palmieri has scored in back-to-back games after going 14 games without a goal. Holmstrom extended his point streak to three games with five points (three goals, two assists) during that span.
Scott Mayfield left the game in the second period with an injury and did not return, while Mathew Barzal went to the locker room in the final minute of regulation after blocking a shot. Coach Patrick Roy didn’t have any updates on the two players after the game.
Florida, in its second game in six days, found itself down 1-0 just seven seconds into the game after Landon Slaggert scored the quickest opening goal in Blackhawks history.
“Sometimes it gets you out of wading into a game,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said about the early deficit. “We were pretty good after that. Strong first period for us. Pretty good start to finish.”
Sam Reinhart had a goal and two assists, while Carter Verhaeghe scored a goal and had an assist for the Panthers. Captain Aleksander Barkov recorded two assists, marking his 200th career multi-point game. Sergei Bobrovsky made 24 saves.
“It was nice to get the win,” said Verhaeghe. “We like where our game is at. We’re trying to build something here and get to our identity a little bit. We played pretty well the past couple of weeks and weren’t getting the results. But we’ve been sticking to our game.”
Reinhart became the first player in Panthers history to score at least 30 goals in four straight seasons.
Maurice, with the win, became just the fourth head coach in NHL history to reach 900 regular-season victories, joining Scotty Bowman (1,244), Joel Quenneville (969), and Barry Trotz (914).
In their first meeting this season, the Panthers came back from a three-goal deficit to defeat the Islanders 6-3 on October 26. Matthew Tkachuk scored twice, and Sam Bennett netted the game-winning goal in the third period.
