Florida Panthers Host the New York Islanders for Saturday Showdown

Tonight at 7:00 P.M., the Florida Panthers will host the New York Islanders at BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida. Tonight’s contest will be the second of three games between the two clubs this season. They’ll meet in Sunrise again on April 4th.

The Florida Panthers started out pretty rough, and still rank tied for last in the National Hockey League with 11 points in the standings. Fortunately, they have at least a game-in-hand on every other team in the NHL. Their points percentage has them in 29th.

For the Panthers, this is the second game of a three-game homestand. They defeated the Edmonton Oilers, 4-1 on Thursday and will finish up against the Ottawa Senators tomorrow night. For the first time this season, they have won consecutive games. They’re going for a third straight tonight.

The Islanders are closing down a two-game trip. They dropped a 4-2 decision to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night. After this, they’ll go home to host the Vancouver Canucks, the New York Rangers, and the Dallas Stars.

When Last We Met

The last time the Florida Panthers played the New York Islanders was October 24th with 9,743 in attendance at Barclay’s Center. The Cats earned their second win of the season, 3-2 in overtime.

Evgeni Dadonov (4) and Frank Vatrano (3) scored goals in regulation, and Mike Hoffman (4) lit the lamp with an overtime game-winner just 33 seconds into the extra frame.

Aleksander Barkov contributed two assists, with helpers also credited to Nick Bjugstad, Aaron Ekblad, MacKenzie Weegar, and Keith Yandle. James Reimer won his first decision of the season, stopping 20-of-22 shots on goal.

"“We talked this morning about how teams react in times of adversity. That’s when your character shines through and I thought tonight was a character win. I really did.” – Panthers coach Bob Boughner, as quoted by Brian Compton at NHL.com"

Panthers Last

In Florida’s last game, the Panthers topped the Edmonton Oilers by a 4-1 final score with 11,484 in attendance at BB&T Center.

Dadonov (7), Bjugstad (3), Jonathan Huberdeau (3), and Colton Sceviour (2) each scored goals. Hoffman and Vincent Trocheck added two helpers each in the winning effort.

Roberto Luongo was electric in his second game back from the DL, turning aside 26-of-27 pucks on net. Barkov, Bogdan Kiselevich, Jared McCann, and Yandle also notched assists.

"“We’ve just got to keep pushing hard and doing what we’ve been doing the last couple of games and making sure that we don’t take things for granted here.” – Luongo, as quoted by Alain Poupart at NHL.com"

New York Islanders’ Last Game

In the Islanders last game, the Tampa Bay Lightning handed them a 4-2 loss with 19,092 at Amalie Arena. Josh Bailey (4, 5) was the only New Yorker to light the lamp for the Islanders in the loss. Robin Lehner allowed all three markers on 26 shots on goal.

"“It’s obviously a tough goal late, but we could’ve been up one or two (goals) with that 5-on-3 or the power plays. It’s not just on a couple guys. It’s on everyone.” – Islanders center Mathew Barzal, as quoted by Corey Long on NHL.com"

All-Time Series

In 97 contests, the Panthers are 50-30-8-9 for a .603 points percentage. That’s Florida’s best against any of the other 30 NHL teams.

This Day in History

In 11 contests on November 10th, the Florida Panthers are 6-2-1-2. They’ve never played the Islanders on this date. In their biggest win, in 2011, they topped the Winnipeg Jets, 5-2.

In that game, Kris Versteeg (6, 7, 8) had a hat trick and an assist, Brian Campbell had three helpers, Tomas Fleischmann and Dmitry Kulikov had two assists each, and Jason Garrison (6) and Mike Santorelli (2) each also lit the lamp. Jose Theodore earned the win by stopping 25-of-27 shots.

Common Thread

Florida netminder Luongo started his 19-season NHL career with the New York Islanders. In 24 games for them in 1999-00, he posted a 7-14-1 with a .904 save percentage and a 3.25 GAA.

Standings

Florida Panthers: 4-5-3, .458 points percentage, 11 points, on pace for 75 points. Eighth-of-eight in the Atlantic Division, 16th-of-16 in the Eastern Conference, 30th-of-31 in the NHL. Last Five: W-L-L-W-W, Playoff Odds: 33.5%

New York Islanders: 8-5-2, .600 points percentage, 18 points, on pace for 98 points. Second-of-eight in the Metropolitan Division, sixth-of-16 in the Eastern Conference, 12th-of-31 in the NHL. Last Five: W-W-W-O-L, Playoff Odds: 78.6%

Starting Lineup

Florida Panthers

63–16–68
11–21–72
62–90–27
22–91–7

19–5
3–6
55–52

1 (unconfirmed)

New York Islanders

Anders Lee – Mathew Barzal – Josh Bailey
Tom Kuhnhackl – Brock Nelson – Jordan Eberle
Andrew Ladd – Valtteri Filppula – Leo Komarov
Anthony Beauvillier – Casey Cizikas – Cal Clutterbuck

Nick Leddy – Ryan Pulock
Thomas Hickey – Scott Mayfield
Adam Pelech – Johnny Boychuk

Robin Lehner (unconfirmed)

Injury Report

Derek MacKenzie remains on the injured reserve with a bad shoulder.

Mark Pysyk is still out with an upper-body injury, and is not expected back soon.

Milestones

Games: Petrovic will move past Tomas Kopecky into 43rd all-time with his 241st game played.

Goals: Dadonov’s next goal will be his 46th, moving him past Jozef Stumpel into sole possession of 34th. Ekblad will tie Tom Fitzgerald and Fleischmann in 21st with his 54th goal. With two goals, Bjugstad will tie David Booth in 13th with his 87th.

Assists: Dadonov, who has 54 assists, will tie Valeri Bure and Gregory Campbell in 43rd with two more. Ekblad’s next helper will tie him with Stumpel in 23rd, with 84. Yandle’s next assist will be his 95th, tying him with Jussi Jokinen in 20th. Trocheck will tie Ray Whitney in 13th with 130.

Points: Dadonov has 99 points, one more will tie him in 41st with Jody Hull. Yandle is tied with Dave Lowry with 110 points in 35th. Ekblad is two points short of Kulikov in 21st, with 136.

Stat Leaders

Games: Petrovic, Ekblad, Bjugstad, Barkov, Trocheck, Huberdeau, Hoffman, Yandle, Dadonov – 12

Goals: Dadonov – 7, Hoffman – 6, Vatrano – 4

Assists: Yandle – 10, Barkov, Trocheck, Huberdeau – 8

Points: Dadonov – 14, Yandle – 13, Trocheck, Huberdeau, Hoffman – 11

Plus-Minus: Bjugstad +6, Petrovic +2

Blocked Shots: Petrovic – 24, Mike Matheson – 14, Yandle, MacKenzie Weegar – 13

Hits: Petrovic – 41, Trocheck – 28, Ekblad, Troy Brouwer – 17

Faceoff Percentage: Juho Lammikko – 53.6%, Trocheck – 53.5%, Barkov – 52.6%, Bjugstad – 50.0%, Jared McCann – 48.1%

Shots-on-Goal: Hoffman – 43, Dadonov – 37, Trocheck, Yandle – 36

Thanks for reading. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and subscribe to our daily newsletter to keep up with the Florida Panthers.