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Recap: Panthers come up short in 2-1 loss to red-hot Islanders

Old nemesis Thomas Greiss made 37 saves to help the streaking New York Islanders tame the Florida Panthers by a 2-1 count in a tense matinee affair from Brooklyn.

New York led much of the game thanks to a goal 5:40 into first period from Mathew Barzal.

The Islanders center roofed a backhander after taking a cross-ice pass from Brock Nelson. Former Panther Derick Brassard drew the second helper on Barzal’s seventh.

Florida finally got on the board 6:12 into the third period when Aleksander Barkov rapped a loose puck past Greiss with the Panthers enjoying a man advantage,

The power-play tally, with the assists going to Jonathan Huberdeau and Keith Yandle, gave the Cats captain goals in four-straight games.

Unfortunately, Scott Mayfield would score what would turn out to be the game-winner just 38 seconds later when his attempted centering pass deflected off both Brian Boyle and  Anton Stralman and tumbled past a helpless Sergei Bobrovsky.

Barkov had a second tying goal taken away during another Panthers power play with 5:25 remaining in regulation when replays concluded he knocked the puck, which deflected off Greiss, in with a high stick.

Bobrovsky made 34 saves, including 19 in the second period, for the Panthers in one of his better starts of the season.

The Cats failed to pick up at least a point for only the fourth time in sixteen games this season. They continue to be in almost every game, but need to find a way to win more of them.  This was a well-played tilt by both teams, but Greiss stood on his head, making some highlight reel caliber saves on Barkov in particular, and that was the difference in what turned out to be another frustrating defeat after Thursday’s 5-4 overtime loss to Washington.

Video Recap

Flotsam & Jetsam

  • Aleksander Barkov came up with only Florida goal and led all skaters with nine shots on goal while logging a game-high 23:39 of ice time.
  • In addition to scoring the game-opening goal, Mathew Barzal also combined with Devon Toews to set up Scott Mayfield’s winner.
  • Islanders forward Jordan Eberle made a huge stop in the second period on Brett Connolly right after Evgenii Dadonov rang a shot off the cross bar.
  • Vincent Trocheck returned after missing seven games because of a lower-body injury. Trocheck played 15:35 and blocked a shot during the tilt.
  • Sail on over to Lighthouse Hockey for the other side of this hard-fought game, which gave the Isles an 11-0-1 record in its last 12 games./

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