Takeaways: Islanders Score Five Second Period Goals to Beat Panthers 5-2

The New York Islanders took care of business against an injury-ravaged Florida Panthers team, as they exploded for five unanswered second period goals to score a 5-2 win at UBS Arena on Saturday afternoon. 

Brayden Schenn led the way with a three-point game (1G, 2A), while Marc Gatcomb (1G, 1A), Simon Holmstrom, Emil Heineman and Casey Cizikas scored for the Islanders. Matthew Tkachuk (2G) was the only goal scorer for the Panthers.  

Ilya Sorokin stopped 19 of the 21 shots in the win. Daniil Tarasov made 35 saves on 40 shots for Florida. 

The Islanders (89 points) temporarily moved into second place in the Metropolitan Division. The Pittsburgh Penguins (88 points) and the Columbus Blue Jackets (87 points) are in action later tonight. 

The Isles took care of their own business on Saturday and got some help from the Tampa Bay Lightning, who scored a 4-2 comeback win over the Ottawa Senators (86 points). The Sens still have one game in-hand on the Isles. 

“The rest of the games are playoff games,” Bo Horvat said. “They're big games for us, big points, and we need all the wins we can get.”

TAKEAWAYS 

- Down 2-0 after the first period, the Islanders responded with a dominating second, scoring five goals and outshooting the Panthers 24-5. It was New York’s first five-goal period since Feb. 9, 2022 and first at UBS Arena.  

The Islanders were determined to not allow a repeat of Tuesday’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks, where a third period comeback was too little too late. 

“Don’t wait for the third,” Schenn said about what the message in the locker room was during the first intermission against the Panthers. “You have to turn it on right now. We can’t wait for the third like we did against Chicago.”

- Gatcomb got the Islanders on the board at 5:28 to make it 2-1 with a shot that trickled through Tarasov’s pads and across the goal line.   

Gatcomb’s goal came right on cue as Head Coach Patrick Roy was hoping he and his linemates would get rewarded for their recent play.  

“I feel sorry for them because they haven’t been rewarded with goals, and they deserve some,” Roy said ahead of Saturday’s game.  

One wasn’t enough, so Cizikas gave his line their second of the afternoon to make it 5-2. The Cizikas line bookended the Islanders’ tide-turning second period.  

 “We were joking the last couple days, like we're right there ... with couple crazy saves on [MacLean], so it's good to get rewarded,” Gatcomb said. “At the end of the day, we're trying to do anything we can to contribute. [That] might not always be on the score sheet [or] the prettiest, but it's good when games like today [where] we can contribute.”  

Schenn made it clear that their efforts, when without hitting the scoresheet, have been noticed by everyone in the Islanders’ locker room.  

“It’s not just [today],” Schenn said. “Everyone looks at today, but they've had chances. They play the same way every single night, and that's the right way.”

- Schenn tied the game for the Islanders as he sniped a shot past Tarasov on the breakaway at 12:09. He recorded his first multi-point game as an Islander and 30th career three-point game and notched three blocked shots in the win. 

“As you play more games consistently, you have an understanding of where guys are going to go and what they're going to do with the puck, and where they want to be in certain zones,” Schenn said. “I thought even a couple of the previous games we're generating a lot. We're playing the right way.”

- Holmstrom and Heineman also got in on the scoring in that five-goal second period. Holmstrom netted a power-play goal at 14:52, while Heineman made it 4-2 at the 17-minute mark.  

- Matthew Schaefer (2A) got his fingerprints on the scoresheet and on another Islanders record. With a pair of assists, Schaefer (56) tied Stefan Persson (56) for the single season point record by a rookie defenseman.

- Sorokin also shook off the first two goals and made several key saves, including a 3-on-1 shorthanded opportunity on the Islanders’ first power-play to keep it a two-goal game. 

Sorokin entered the game allowing just two goals in his previous eight periods of play and finished the afternoon with two clean sheet periods. 

- The start of Saturday afternoon’s game was eerily similar to that of the Mar. 1 meeting between the two sides, as the Panthers opened up a 2-0 lead. 

- The Islanders had extended offensive zone time and Heineman rung a shot off the crossbar run that was diminished with two Tkachuk goals, including a between-the-legs tally to make it 2-0 after the first period. It was the first time in the last four games that New York didn’t strike first. 

NEXT GAME

The Islanders close out their five-game homestand against the Penguins on Monday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 PM.