Five In Florida

The Islanders played the Florida Panthers tonight. New York had won four in a row coming into the game. Josh Bailey came off of injured reserve after missing a couple of weeks with a broken hand. The first 10 minutes of the game was very hard-hitting. The Islanders had an early power-play but failed to convert.  They were actually playing well and had numerous chances against Roberto Luongo. It was going to take an extraordinary effort to get the puck passed him tonight.  The Panthers got on the board first with a chip in behind Halak. It was some guy named Jimmy Hayes (a classic hockey name if I ever heard one). It ended the Islanders shut out streak at 193 minutes covering the last 2 1/2 games.

The Panthers went into the second period with a 1–0 lead. The Islanders had to kill off a Panthers power-play and then a few minutes later Kyle Okposo found John Tavares in the slot to tie the game 1-1.  It was to Tavares' seventh goal of the season to lead the team.  It came on the Islanders 22nd shot of the game.  It was only a couple of minutes later that the Islanders got a break and a breakaway.  Strome got a lead pass from Hickey and was away all by himself. He took a confident shot and put it past Luongo's five hole for a 2-1 lead. It was Strome's 2nd goal in as many games.  He looked really good on that shot.  Maybe it is a sign of things to come. The Isles maintained their lead as the period came to a close. 

Early in the third period Kulemin knocked in his own rebound for his third goal of the year to give the Islanders of 3–1 lead. But it would not end there. The Panthers tied the game with two late goals.  Tavares took a bad slashing penalty that led to a power-play goal for Florida.  Then with a little over two minutes left the Panthers got a bad bounce to go their way past Halak to tie the game. The Islanders had a shot to win in regulation after a tripping penalty gave the Islanders a power play with a little over two minutes left. However, they could not convert.  

The overtime was dominated by Florida as they out shot the Islanders 8–1. In fact, they got a late power-play with a minute left in overtime.  The Islanders survived the overtime and it went to a shootout. Nielsen started with his famous "Backhand of Judgment" to give the Islanders the lead in the shootout. Okposo scored on a nice deke and Halak stopped two of three shots to give the Islanders the win. This was the type of game that good teams win on the road.  It was a very satisfying two points indeed. 

That's five wins in a row and the Islanders will travel to The Gulf Coast to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning tomorrow night. This is a confident team and there's no reason to believe that they won't come away with a win tomorrow night as well.