SUNRISE, Fla. — Max Shabanov has played well since returning from injury, but he’d probably like to burn the tape of Sunday’s 4-1 Islanders loss to the Panthers.
The rookie Russian winger had a shot blocked and committed two turnovers on the same second-period shift, the second of which led to Carter Verhaeghe’s goal that made it 2-0 Panthers.
Coach Patrick Roy was forgiving afterward, calling it a learning moment, though he did drop Shabanov to the third line for the rest of the game.
“I think he’s learning very fast and very well,” Roy said. “He had some great flashes in the game. He’s gonna continue to learn. That’s the beauty of our game.”
Roy explained the change of lines by saying the Islanders just wanted to try something different on an afternoon when their offense didn’t have much going.
“It’s a challenging schedule. And back-to-back games within 24 hours, sometimes it’s good to try different things,” he said. “That’s all we wanted to do. Put Simon instead of Shabby.”
Max Shabanov moves the puck during the Islanders’ loss to the Panthers on Dec. 7. Imagn Images
Roy had praise for Max Tsyplakov pregame, a notable development as Tsyplakov has struggled to stay in the coach’s good graces this season.
“I feel like last game [Saturday against Tampa], I liked how he managed the puck,” Roy said. “I thought he managed it really well. We talk about it, and I thought he did a nice job.
“Now what we want to see is him a little more involved on the rush and then moving his feet, but I feel like he’s done a really nice job playing with [Mat] Barzal and Anders [Lee].”
Travis Mitchell drew back into the lineup for Adam Boqvist after Boqvist struggled badly in Tampa on Sunday night.
Roy strained credulity in saying the change was made because “it’s a father-and-son trip, kind of a family trip. … It’s important that everybody plays.”
After four consecutive starts for Ilya Sorokin, David Rittich was in nets on the second end of the back-to-back, stopping 26-of-29 shots.
The Panthers had backup Daniil Tarasov in after Sergei Bobrovsky started their 7-6 win over Columbus on Saturday.
On the ice from Long Island
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Jean-Gabriel Pageau (upper body) was not ready to go yet Sunday.
General manager Mathieu Darche said Saturday that it would be a matter of days before he returns.