The Panthers try to win their third game in a row for the first time in 2012, today against the New York Islanders in Nassau Coliseum at 3:00 ET
The first line combined to put the Panthers up, 2-1 with four minutes gone in the second when Stephen Weiss (27) and Kris Versteeg (26) set up Tomas Fleischmann on Evgeny Nabokov’s stick side for an easy goal. It was Fleischmann’s 18th goal of the season, good for second on the Panthers.
Florida would have their first power play of the game at the midway point of the period, when Matt Martin was called for roughing Erik Gudbranson. Florida rolled out four forwards for the man advantage. Tomas Kopecky screened Islanders goaltender Evgeni Nabokov while Kris Versteeg snapped one by him to double the Panthers lead. It was Versteeg’s team leading 22nd goal. Tomas Fleischmann (24) and Brian Campbell (35) earned the plays’ assists.
Jack Skille added to the Florida lead in his first game back from injury with a wrist shot, gathered straight off the Shawn Matthias (12) faceoff for his third goal of the season.
Hits: Islanders, 16-15
Blocked Shots: Panthers, 14-10
Faceoffs: Panthers, 23-14
Shots on Goal: Islanders, 16-15
Score: Panthers 4, Islanders 1
Todays starting lineups:
Florida:
Forwards:
Tomas Fleischmann - Stephen Weiss - Kris Versteeg
Sean Bergenheim - Marcel Goc - Mikael Samuelsson
Mike Santorelli - Shawn Matthias - Tomas Kopecky
Matt Bradley - John Madden - Krys Barch
Defensemen:
Brian Campbell - Erik Gudbranson
Tyson Strachan - Keaton Ellerby
Goalie:
Jose Theodore should get the start tonight.
New York:
Forwards:
Matt Moulson - John Tavares - Kyle Okposo
Michael Grabner - Frans Neilsen - PA Parenteau
Matt Martin - Josh Bailey - Rhett Rakhshani
Tim Wallace - Jay Pandolfo - Nino Niederreiter
Defensemen:
Goalie:
Evgeni Nabokov is probable.
Common Thread:
Panthers forward Sean Bergenheim played 246 games over his first five seasons, scoring 40 goals and 40 assists with a minus-19 rating and 195 penalty minutes.
Islanders forward Marty Reasoner played every game last season with the Panthers. He scored 14 goals and 18 assists with a plus-2 rating and 22 penalty minutes.
Team Milestones:
Games: Shawn Matthias plays in game number 180 today, moving into a tie in 45th with Jesse Belanger.
Goals: Jason Garrison is in 50th with 20 goals. Kris Versteeg is tied with Brett McLean in 48th with 21. Shawn Matthias is tied in 46th with Dave Gagner, with 24 goals. Mike Van Ryn sits in 45th, with 25. Mike Santorelli is tied with Gary Roberts in 42nd, with 27 goals, one more will move him into a tie for 41st with Brian McCabe.
Team Leaders:
Kris Versteeg - 21
Tomas Fleischmann - 17
Stephen Weiss, Jason Garrison - 13
Assists:
Brian Campbell - 34
Stephen Weiss - 26
Kris Versteeg - 25
Points:
Kris Versteeg - 46
Tomas Fleischmann - 40
Stephen Weiss - 39
Plus/Minus:
Stephen Weiss - plus-8
Jason Garrison - plus-6
Kris Versteeg - plus-5
Point Share:
Jason Garrison, 6.1
Kris Versteeg, 5.8
Jose Theodore, Brian Campbell, 5.5
Florida will be visiting the New York Islanders today at the Nassau Coliseum. This is the third of four meetings this season between the two teams, with the Panthers winning the last, 4-2 in Sunrise back in October. Florida has an 12-12-4 road record, while the Islanders are 12-12-5 at home. Florida is in the second game of a two game road trip. They defeated the New Jersey Devils, 3-1 yesterday afternoon on and will return home to play the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday. The Islanders will be playing in the final game of a three game homestand. they dropped a 4-2 matchup on Thursday to the Montreal Canadians and beat the Los Angeles Kings in a shootout yesterday afternoon. They hit the road to play the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday.
The Panthers beat the Islanders, 4-2 on October 22nd. Kris Versteeg (4), Shawn Matthias (1), Matt Bradley (1) and Tim Kennedy (1) scored for the Cats, while Jacob Markstrom bailed out a struggling Jose Theodore with a perfect third period, making 18 saves for his first career win. Mark Streit (1) and John Tavares (6) each notched power play goals for the Islanders. Evgeny Nabokov allowed three goals on 32 shots in the losing effort. Kevin Dineen spoke about Markstrom after the game, according TO NHL.COM,
"Extremely happy for him to get his first win. He's a real enthusiastic young kid. You run through a lot of kids that you like as people, but this kid can play and I think he put a real exclamation point on that tonight."
Islanders @ Panthers 10/22/11 (via NHLVideo)
Florida topped the New Jersey Devils, 3-1 yesterday in Newark. Ex-Panthers Steve Bernier opened the scoring with his first goal of the season just under two minutes into the first, beating Clemmensen between the pads. Clemmensen then proceeded to stop everything else the Devils threw at him, earning the victory by stopping 27 of 28 shots, making him 10-4-5 on the season. Sean Bergenheim (11) scored a power play goal in the first, Kris Versteeg (21) added the game winner in the second, and Mikael Samuelsson (7) capped it with an empty netter near the end of regulation. Martin Brodeur allowed two goals on 19 Florida shots. Clemmensen talked to the media after the game, according to NHL.COM,
"A game like this late in the year is better than a game like this earlier in the year. For us to do it here is good. It's a road win; good for us."
The Islanders won in a shootout at home yesterday, 2-1 over the Los Angeles Kings. Michael Grabner (15) scored for New York in the first, and Andrei Loktionov (1) notched the equalizer in the second. Mark Streit (5) scored the game winner in the extra frame. Evgeny Nabokov collected the victory by stopping 34 of 35 shots. Jonathan Quick allowed two goals on 25 shots but took the loss for the Kings. Mark Streit spoke about his game winner after the game, according to NHL.COM,
I just came off the bench and Matt Moulson was standing at the red line. He gave me the puck, I just skated toward four of their guys and tried to spread them. I made a little move, cut back and all of a sudden I was in front of the goalie and decided to score. It’s one I’m going to remember.
Season Series: 2-0-0
All-Time Series: 38-24-14
Game Time: 3:00 ET
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Standings:
Florida Panthers: 26-17-11, 63 points, first Southeast Division, third Eastern Conference, 13th NHL, on pace for 96 points. Last five: W-L-L-W-W Playoff Chances: 83.1%
New York Islanders: 23-23-8, 54 points, fifth Atlantic Division, 11th Eastern Conference, 23rd NHL, on pace for 82 points. Last five: W-O-W-L-W Playoff Chances: 4.2%
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Florida Panthers Shut New York Islanders Down, 4-1
First Period:
New goaltender, same story early. Jose Theodore returned from injury today to make his first start in goal in three weeks, giving Scott Clemmensen a well earned break.
Frans Nielsen put the Islanders up early, just four minutes into the game scoring his 10th goal of the season with assists from PA Parenteau (38) and Andrew MacDonald (6).
Tyson Strachan would net the equalizer for the Panthers with five minuter remaining in the period, scoring his first career goal with an assist from center Marcel Goc (10).
With just two minutes remaining in the period, Florida would give the Islanders their first power play chance of the game. Sean Bergenheim was called for holding Steve Staios, but Florida would effectively kill the penalty off, skating into the break with seven seconds left to kill.
Second Period:
The first line combined to put the Panthers up, 2-1 with four minutes gone in the second when Stephen Weiss (27) and Kris Versteeg (26) set up Tomas Fleischmann on Evgeny Nabokov's stick side for an easy goal. It was Fleischmann's 18th goal of the season, good for second on the Panthers.
Florida would have their first power play of the game at the midway point of the period, when Matt Martin was called for roughing Erik Gudbranson. Florida rolled out four forwards for the man advantage. Tomas Kopecky screened Islanders goaltender Evgeni Nabokov while Kris Versteeg snapped one by him to double the Panthers lead. It was Versteeg's team leading 22nd goal. Tomas Fleischmann (24) and Brian Campbell (35) earned the plays' assists.
Jack Skille added to the Florida lead in his first game back from injury with a wrist shot, gathered straight off the Shawn Matthias (12) faceoff for his third goal of the season.
Third Period:
After allowing four goals on 15 shots through the first two periods, Evgeny Nabokov was pulled in favor of Al Montoya to mind the Islanders net in the third.
New York opened the period looking frisky, putting five shots on Jose Theodore through the first five minutes. They also were victimized by several blocked shots and a few missed.
At the seven minute mark, Fleischmann beat Nabokov but lost to the goal post, narrowly missing his third multi-goal game of the season, and his first since netting two against the Montreal Canadians on New Years Eve.
Erik Gudbranson was called for an obvious penalty, hooking PA Parenteau at the 10 minute mark. The Cats cleared it out and Tomas Kopecky almost scored a shorthanded goal, with only a stickless John Tavares to stop him. Montoya was equal to the task. Florida kept the puck out of their own zone for a large portion of the New York man advantage.
Florida shut down the Islanders for the rest of the game without much effort needed. Both teams were on the tail end of a back to back series. Florida clinched the season series, with one game to play.
Hits: Islanders, 26-20 (Tyson Strachan led all skaters with five, while Matt Martin led the Islanders with four.)
Blocked Shots: Panthers, 22-11 (Keaton Ellerby and Tyson Strachan each tallied five blocks for Florida. Frans Nielsen had three to lead New York.)
Faceoffs: Panthers, 28-23 (Marcel Goc won 13 of 22 faceoffs, John Tavares won nine of 24 for New York.)
Shots on Goal: Islanders, 27-19 (John Tavares led the Islanders by a wide margin with seven. Kris Versteeg and Tomas Kopecky had three tries each to pace the Panthers.)
Score: Panthers 4, Islanders 1
Feb 12 5:48p by Kevin Kraczkowski