Takeaways: Islanders Drop 6-3 Decision to Panthers

The New York Islanders’ seven-game winning streak came to an end in Sunrise on Sunday in a 6-3 loss to the Florida Panthers.

It was a hectic, back-and-forth contest between the two teams. Kyle MacLean, JG Pageau and Marc Gatcomb scored for the Isles to overcome a 2-0 deficit and build the 3-2 lead by the second period, but it wasn’t enough to contain the offensive prowess of the Panthers. Carter Verhaeghe pulled off a hat trick while the Panthers also saw goals from Evan Rodrigues, Sam Reinhart and Matthew Tkachuk (ENG).

Jakub Skarek made 27 saves on 32 shots in his NHL debut, while Spencer Knight turned aside 31 of 34. Though it wasn’t the result the Islanders wanted, the team is looking at the bigger picture in winning seven of the last eight games.

“I think we were riding the momentum of a little desperation and urgency,” MacLean said. “We put together a good stretch of games, it wasn’t our night, but I think we can find that again and put together another one.

The Islanders trail the season series 0-2-0 to the Panthers after a pair of 6-3 losses this season.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Islanders fell behind in the opening minute, as they won a defensive draw but failed to clear the zone, allowing Verhaeghe to receive a pass from Reinhart and shelf a backhand past Skarek to take a 1-0 lead 39 seconds into the game.

The Panthers doubled their lead when Skarek made a pad save on Gustav Forsling, but the rebound darted in the direction of Verhaeghe, who was rushing down the left side and beat Skarek to make it 2-0 at the 12:52 mark of the frame.

“Too many turnovers,” Head Coach Patrick Roy said of the first period. “When I look at the first two goals, you can’t turn over pucks against teams like this.”

In a rebound effort to start the second period, the Isles grabbed one back when Tony DeAngelo’s shot was saved by Knight, and MacLean chipped the loose puck in front of the crease to cut the deficit to 2-1 at the 3:10 mark of the frame.

Anthony Duclair drew a holding penalty and the Isles were opportunistic in the waning seconds of the man advantage. A rebound popped out on the left side of Knight for Pageau to swoop in and bury it to tie the score at the 10:00 mark.

Skarek made a huge glove save on a sharp shot from Nate Schmidt at the point, giving the Isles some momentum. Gatcomb sprung out of the box after serving a hooking penalty and while his initial shot was saved by Knight, Max Tsyplakov got the puck to Adam Pelech at the point, and Gatcomb was able to deflect his shot past Knight to take a 3-2 lead at the 14:51 mark.

“I loved the way we bounced back as a team,” Roy said. “I loved the pushback that we had going into that second and third period.”

The momentum shifted back to the Cats, as they clawed back and took the lead in the span of 1:17. Rodrigues found the equalizer at 17:52 of the second period with a backhand past a diving Skarek, and Reinhart wristed a shot in tight to take a 4-3 lead at the 19:09 mark of the frame.

Verhaeghe capped off a hat trick when he found open space at the left circle and zipped a shot past Skarek to take a 5-3 lead with 9:19 left in the game.

Tkachuk secured the win with an empty net goal with 1:39 remaining.

“There’s a reason they won the Stanley Cup,” Roy said. “They’re a team that plays the right way and are disciplined in their structure. I think we learned a lot from that game tonight.”

SKAREK MAKES NHL DEBUT

Jakub Skarek faced a tough challenge in his NHL debut, but he settled in and had a solid performance.

The Czechia native said he didn’t feel pregame nerves – which admittedly made him nervous – but he felt good and focused on the basics and felt more comfortable as the game went on.

“I’m definitely grateful for this experience and it’s a night I’m never going to forget,” Skarek said.

Roy gave him the advice to enjoy the moment, focus and play simple – advice that meant a lot for the 25-year-old before his first NHL game.

“He’s a legend, one of the best goalies in history,” Skarek said. “Advice from him is gold and I appreciate it, the way he talks to me, how he’s trying to help me.”

Roy had a solid assessment of Skarek in his debut, pointing out his performance as a positive takeaway.

“He’s the reason there was a game here tonight,” Roy said of Skarek. “He gave us a chance, that’s all we could ask for. He did what he had to do, and the goals he gave up he didn’t have much of a chance.”

Skarek became the fourth rookie to make their NHL debut for the Islanders this season after Tsyplakov, Isaiah George and Gatcomb.

LINEUP NOTES

Anthony Duclair, who missed Saturday’s game with an illness, returned to action and skated with Bo Horvat and Anders Lee in place of Mathew Barzal, who missed the game with a lower-body injury.

Dennis Cholowski drew back into the lineup after missing the last four games as a healthy scratch. The defenseman had a two-assist performance, recorded one shot on goal in 9:50 TOI and started the game on a pair with Adam Boqvist.

ODDS AND ENDS

• Kyle MacLean buried his third goal of the season and has seven points through 52 games this season.
• Tony DeAngelo netted his third point as an Islander with a primary assist on MacLean’s second period tally.
• Marc Gatcomb scored his second goal in his ninth NHL game.
• Adam Boqvist faced his former team in his second game as an Islander.

NOTABLE QUOTE

Anders Lee on looking ahead to Tuesday’s contest:

“We have an opportunity to get home here, get in front of our crowd on Tuesday and bounce right back. We put some great hockey together here, we didn’t get the result tonight, but let’s get back to who we are and what we’ve been doing.”

NEXT GAME

The Islanders head back home to Long Island where they’ll play the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday at UBS Arena. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m.