The Florida Panthers (30-26-3) will open a key four-game road trip when they pay a visit to the New York Islanders (34-21-5) this evening at UBS Arena.
Florida is coming off a frustrating 3-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Friday in which they wasted a high-quality start from backup goalie Daniil Tarasov, who stopped 36 of 38 shots. Matthew Tkachuk scored his fifth of the season in the middle frame and Sam Bennett notched his 20th with 35 seconds remaining to pull the Cats within one, but it was too little, too late. The Panthers remain eight points out of a playoff spot.
The Islanders will be the less rested of the two teams. They played last night, rallying from two down to nip the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3 in overtime at Nationwide Arena. Simon Holmstrom potted the game-winning goal and Anders Lee, J.P. Pageau and Scott Mayfield also lit the lamp. Ilya Sorokin made 27 saves for the Islanders, who are currently in third place in the Metropolitan Division.
- WHEN: 6:30 p.m. ET
- WHERE: UBS Arena – Elmont, NY
- ON THE TUBE: ESPN
- ON THE DIAL: 104.3 WQAM (D/B), 106.3 ESPN (PB), Thunder 100.3 (Keys)
- SOCIALS: #TimeToHunt, #Isles, #FLAvsNYI, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
- ENEMY INTEL: Lighthouse Hockey
- FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 2 of 3 (1-0)
- LAST MEETING: @FLA 4, NYI 1 (Recap) – 12/7/2025
- NEXT MEETING: March 28, 2026
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Florida: Bobrovsky (22-17-1 .871 / 3.13 3SO) New York: Rittich (12-8-3 .900 / 2.57 6SO)
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / New York
Sunday in the Atlantic (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances)
Idle: TBL (80P), BUF (76P), MON (75P), DET (74P), BOS (52P), OTT (66P), TOR (63P)