SUNRISE — Just a day after playing one of the highest-scoring games in franchise history and rallying to win from multi-goal deficits in two separate periods for the first time ever, the Florida Panthers got back to what works for them Sunday so, so well.
The Panthers held the Islanders to three shots on goal in the third period of a game they held a one-goal lead in, tacking on two goals of their own in the final 6-plus minutes to pull out a 4-1 win.
Perhaps the Panthers were not trying to slow things down all that much, but that is what they did in a game in which the only goal New York scored came off a backhander that clipped the leg of defenseman Gus Forsling.
The Panthers, we know, are best when they clog things up.
Sunday, the Islanders ran out of space and Florida came out with their second straight win a night after they went dancing with the Columbus Blue Jackets in a wild 7-6 comeback win in overtime.
“This is a team that plays a heavy game,” said Islanders coach Patrick Roy, who knows a little something about the Panthers limiting offensive chances.
“This was an experience for our guys and I think we are going to learn a lot from a game like this, seeing how they play and the way they played. We were right there until the end. I see a lot of positives from this. We had our chances and did not give up a lot to them until they had a couple good looks at the end.’’
If you like defensive hockey, Sunday was a night you enjoyed.
Both the Panthers and Islanders did not give up a whole lot and their goalies — Daniil Tarasov and David Rittich — were good when things got through.
Florida led 2-0 in the second off goals from Uvis Balinskis and Carter Verhaeghe before the Islanders cut their deficit in half.
The Panthers kept coming.
“Usually when you’re up a goal, you have a tendency to sit back a little bit more than usual and give them a little bit more ice to play on,’’ said Seth Jones, who made it 3-1 on a 4-on-4 goal with 6:03 remaining.
“That’s definitely a credit to our forecheck, our forwards. When they did get the shots, Tarasov was there. But we kept pressure on them, we made their life difficult even with the lead.”
The Islanders may have won the lottery last year and picked up future superstar defenseman Matthew Schaefer, but they have improved enough that they came into Sunday just two points back of the Capitals for first place in the Metropolitan Division.
As it stands now, they are four points behind the Capitals (who beat Columbus 2-0) and one point away from the Carolina Hurricanes for second.
The Panthers did a good job against a good team.
And, after all the talk about Florida sitting in last place in the Eastern Conference after their loss to the Maple Leafs on Tuesday, are three points out of the playoffs after closing this six-game homestand with five of six points.
Florida has a tough road trip coming up, the team flying to Utah right after the win to get situated in Salt Lake City before playing the Mammoth on Wednesday night.
The four-game road set ‘features’ a back-to-back in the mountains against Utah and Colorado before wrapping up in Dallas and Tampa.
Not an easy game, by any measure, in any of the four.
The Panthers were feeling it a bit after losing five of six, but they seem to be in a better headspace now.
They will get to see old pals Nate Schmidt and Vitek Vanecek to give them their 2025 Stanley Cup championship rings but still have an (ahem) uphill climb.
Paul Maurice said the points Florida picked up since Thursday are nice, but just feeling good again is what matters.
Getting some offense from their defensemen also helped: Balinskis and Jones both scored, with Jeff Petry and Forsling getting on the scoresheet.
“The emotion that you’re carrying into the drop of the puck in Utah,’’ Maurice said explaining the importance of the past two wins.
“We’re more confident now. We are going on a really tough road trip. But we’re playing as well as we’ve played in quite a while.”
ON DECK: GAME No. 29
FLORIDA PANTHERS at UTAH MAMMOTH
