Islanders defeat Panthers in Game 2 of Cup Qualifiers, extend series lead

Jordan Eberle scored twice and the New York Islanders used three unanswered goals to defeat the Florida Panthers 4-2 in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Qualifiers at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Tuesday.

Matt Martin and Ryan Pulock scored, and Semyon Varlamov made 26 saves to give New York, the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference, a 2-0 lead in the best-of-5 series.

"I liked our resiliency," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. "We'll have to do it again. Plain and simple. That's where we're at. … When all else fails, we've been desperate and committed to block a shot if we've needed to. Box out around the net. All those types of things where those are the details and little things that help you win."

WATCH: [All Panthers vs. Islanders highlights]

Mike Hoffman and Aleksander Barkov scored, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 saves for Florida, the No. 10 seed in the East.

"You have to learn from some of the situations we put ourselves in," Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said. "There are some positives. I thought, the first game (2-1 loss on Saturday), there's a lot of positives to extract out of the game today. We did what we wanted to do when we began the game. We have to play with some composure in those pivotal moments. Momentum is key."

Game 3 is in Toronto, the Eastern Conference hub city, on Wednesday (Noon ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN, TVAS, FS-F, MSG+).

Teams with a 2-0 lead are 56-1 (98.2 percent) winning a best-of-5 NHL series (39-1 when last used from 1980-86). The Islanders defeated the Washington Capitals in a 1985 series.

Eberle scored on the power play by tipping Anthony Beauvillier's one-timer from the left circle to make it 4-2 at 10:29 of the third period. He put the Islanders ahead 3-2 at 16:27 of the second with a shot from the left circle after a cross-ice pass from Pulock.

After being held without a point in Game 1, Eberle thought he and linemates Mathew Barzal and Anders Lee got back to their game.

"I looked at our first game and it was definitely a quiet night," Eberle said. "We didn't really give up much, but we didn't create a lot either. Tonight, we wanted to make an impact. [Barzal] does such a great job of coming through the neutral zone and creating time for us. [Lee] is just such a bull down low on the puck. You see him a lot down there.

"It was good to see us start to contribute and create some offense. Hopefully, we keep it going."

Pulock tied it 2-2 on the man-advantage with a one-timer at 13:48 of the second.

"Our main focus is on tomorrow now," Pulock said. "This is all over with. Tomorrow is the biggest game of the series. They're going to come with their best, and we have to be prepared here to bring our best. Just play our game."

Barkov gave Florida a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal on a wrist shot from the left circle at 7:54 of the second.

"Just think about tomorrow's game. This game is over," Barkov said. "We know it wasn't our best, we didn't bring our best today. Tomorrow's a new chance. We have to win that game. We have to have a mindset that we're going to go in that game and put our best game of the series and play smarter."

Hoffman gave the Panthers their first lead of the series at 11:16 of the first period with a wrist shot from outside the left circle to make it 1-0.

"I thought we started with great energy," Hoffman said. "Obviously, getting the lead is crucial. But you know, they're a good hockey club. They never gave up. They battled back and got a couple on the power play, which hurt us a little bit. But we have an opportunity to come back in 24 hours and redeem ourselves."

Martin tied it at 6:12 of the second when he put a shot past Bobrovsky at the top of the crease after a between-the-legs feed from Tom Kuhnhackl to make it 1-1.

"We're obviously happy to have a 2-0 lead and hopefully we can finish the job tomorrow," Martin said. "You don't want to give that team any life. They have a lot of talent over there. ... We need to be prepared for a big one tomorrow."

Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk was unfit to play after an illegal check to the head from Mike Matheson in Game 1. Boychuk was replaced by Andy Greene.

Panthers forward Aleksi Saarela and defenseman Brady Keeper each made his series debut after being a healthy scratch for Game 1. They replaced forward Dominic Toninato and defenseman Riley Stillman. Forward Lucas Wallmark did not play for the second straight game.

"Tonight we didn't get the result we wanted and we have to be [ticked] off and ready to come tomorrow and play our best game," Panthers defenseman Keith Yandle said.