Roberto Luongo helps Panthers defeat Islanders

NEW YORK -- Jason Demers broke a tie early in the second period, and Roberto Luongo made 29 saves, including 12 in the third period, to help the Florida Panthers to a 2-1 win against the New York Islanders at Barclays Center on Wednesday.
Keith Yandle scored in the first period for Florida (19-16-8), which has won its past four road games.

"I think on the road we play a lot more simple," Panthers coach Tom Rowe said. "We don't try and force plays where the ice is unavailable. It's a style we're going to have to adopt when we get back home on Friday night, but I think the guys are now starting to gain some confidence in what we've been talking about."
WATCH: All Panthers vs. Islanders highlights
Nick Leddy scored, and Thomas Greiss made 22 saves for New York (15-16-8), which outshot Florida 12-1 in the third period but lost its third in a row (0-1-2) and fourth in its past five. The Islanders have scored three goals in their past three games, outscored 2-1 each time.
"I'm not going to mention names, but you watch the game tonight, they were non-factors in tonight's game," Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. "What you need to do right now and at the time you're in this game right now, you've got to come to the rink and you've got to be a difference-maker. If you don't have that mindset to be a difference-maker, knowing it's a crucial time with games at hand to play like you played tonight, then you're in the wrong profession as an athlete."

Yandle gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead when he beat Greiss with a slap shot from below the left circle 5:47 into the game.
Leddy tied it five minutes later when he took a pass from Casey Cizikas and sent a shot from the point that found its way through a crowd and past Luongo.

Demers put Florida back in front 1:09 into the second period, when Florida outshot New York 16-6.
"Probably the worst second period that we played all year," Capuano said. "We had no rhythm, no execution. Certain guys should have stayed in the room. It was bad."

#

Goal of the game

After Jussi Jokinen won a faceoff in the offensive zone, Demers beat Greiss with a wrist shot from the right circle for his eighth goal to give the Panthers the lead.

#

Save of the game

Luongo didn't have to make many spectacular saves, but he kept it 1-1 when he snared Calvin de Haan's slap shot from the left point with 4:03 remaining in the first period.

Highlight of the game

Yandle scored his first goal since Dec. 20, third of the season, when he skated into a one-timer that he got past Greiss and underneath the crossbar after Jared McCann's centering feed went off Cal Clutterbuck's skate in front and rolled into the slot.
"I just saw McCann come over the blue line, he found a way to get to the net for a backhand, and the rebound came out pretty high," Yandle said. "I was lucky to get it on my tape, and I just wanted to shoot it as hard as I could."

#

Unsung performance of the game

Panthers center Michael Sgarbossa won six of nine faceoffs, had four shots on goal and blocked two shots in 14:18 of ice time.

#

They said it

"We have a lot of guys out of the lineup right now, so we have to realize that sometimes we're going to win games ugly, and I thought the last two games were a perfect example of that." -- Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo
"I think we work hard every day in practice, I think there was a solid work ethic in the first two games back [last weekend]. Obviously tonight was probably not our best, I think, just execution-wise. It was just a sloppy game, back-and-forth. We just weren't able to generate enough offense. I don't think they really generated that much either; they just scored one more goal." --Islanders captain John Tavares
"I think we've got kind of a nothing-to-lose attitude right now. We're going to have to going forward. You only get so many chances, it's up to us to decide whether or not we want to take that chance or if we want to let it go by." -- Islanders forward Cal Clutterbuck

#

Need to know

Florida has won each of its first two games against New York this season after being eliminated by the Islanders in the opening round of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs. … The Panthers were 0-for-1 on the power play; the Islanders were not awarded a man-advantage. … Leddy's goal was his sixth. He scored five last season. … Tavares was held without a point and remains two shy of 500 for his NHL career.

#

What's next

Panthers: Host the New York Islanders on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET; FS-F, MSG+, NHL.TV)
Islanders: At the Florida Panthers on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET; FS-F, MSG+, NHL.TV)