RECAP: Panthers 4, Islanders 1

SUNRISE, Fla. – The Florida Panthers are hitting the road on a high note after closing out their homestand with a 4-1 win over the New York Islanders at Amerant Bank Arena on Sunday.

Winning both halves of their back-to-back over the weekend, the Panthers now sit at 14-12-2.

“We need every point we can get right now,” defenseman Seth Jones said. “A couple big wins this weekend, and hopefully we can carry that momentum into next week.”

Netting his first goal of the season, Uvis Balisnkis opened the scoring for the Panthers when he beat David Rittich, who was distracted by A.J. Greer fighting for space in front of his crease, with a shot from just below the blue line to make it 1-0 at 12:14 of the first period.

“The first goal, for me, A.J. Greer, a big man, goes to the net,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “That’s why a wrist shot can beat a goaltender. We’ve seen a whole bunch of that against us.”

In the second period, Carter Verhaeghe doubled the lead for the Panthers when he ripped a shot past Rittich from the left circle to make it 2-0 at 7:05. Getting the puck to Verhaeghe, Jeff Petry crept down from the blue line and poked the puck out of Max Shabanov’s grasp.

On a scoring tear, Verhaeghe has lit the lamp six times in his last six games.

“Just tenacious around the net,” Jones said of Verhaeghe. “When he’s getting chances, he’s putting them in the net, which is great. It all starts with him – his speed, his forecheck, his hitting ability and his playmaking. He’s a catalyst of our team. When he’s playing well, we play well.”

Slicing the deficit in half for the Islanders, Mathew Barzal took a pass from Calder Trophy frontrunner Matthew Schaefer, carried the puck through the slot and then fired a backhand shot that went off a defender and past Daniil Tarasov from the left circle to make it 2-1 at 9:03.

With the action getting tight in the third period, the Panthers earned a key insurance goal after play went to 4-on-4 following a pair of roughing penalties. With extra ice to work with, Jones took a nifty dish from Anton Lundell and scored from the slot to make it 3-1 at 13:57.

Over his last two games, Jones has notched three points (2G, 1A).

“Just trying to be aggressive,” Jones said. “Power-play [goal] the other day, and then tonight. Lundy makes a great play, great pass, and sells the shot. I’m just trying to finish it.”

Finishing things off, Sam Reinhart made it 4-1 with an empty-net goal at 17:06.

“We're playing as well as we've played in quite a while,” Maurice said.

Closing the door, the Panthers allowed just three total shots on goal in the third period.

“The guys set the tone early in the game,” said Tarasov, who finished with 20 saves. “It was kind of easy to get in [the game]. There was not a lot of shots tonight. The guys did an awesome job in front of me. It builds the confidence really well.”

THEY SAID IT

“We had to be patient. We didn’t get too far off. Our gap got tighter as it got to our net.” – Paul Maurice on Florida’s defense during tonight’s win

“When they got the shots, Terry (Daniil Tarasov) was there, but we kept pressure on them, we made their lives difficult.” – Seth Jones on limiting New York’s offense

“It was a huge weekend for us. We’ve kind of been battling in the past games. It’s the good feeling now.” – Daniil Tarasov on sweeping the back-to-back

CATS STATS

- Carter Verhaeghe has logged 11 points (5G, 6A) in his last six games.

- Aaron Ekblad blocked a team-high five shots on goal.

- Anton Lundell won a team-high nine faceoffs.

- The Panthers led 24-18 in scoring chances at 5-on-5.

- Daniil Tarasov made two high-danger saves, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

WHAT’S NEXT?

It’s time to hit the road.

Kicking off a four-game trip, the Panthers will face-off against the Utah Mammoth at Delta Center on Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET.

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