Sorokin makes 42 saves, Islanders hold off Panthers

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Ilya Sorokin made 42 saves, including 17 in the third period, and the New York Islanders defeated the Florida Panthers 4-3 at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday.

Julien Gauthier had a goal and an assist, and Bo Horvat and Brock Nelson each had two assists for the Islanders (10-7-6), who are 5-1-3 in their past nine games.

“You can look at the shot clock and go, ‘Oh boy,’ but how many scoring chances did they really have?’’ New York coach Lane Lambert said.

The Islanders were outshot 45-27, including 18-6 in the third period, and the Panthers had a 94-54 advantage in shot attempts. New York had 26 blocked shots.

“His rebound control, knocking down a shot, the little things … it is not always miraculous saves,” New York captain Anders Lee said of Sorokin. “He makes a lot of things look easy. He is our backstop there and did a wonderful job.”

Carter Verhaeghe had a goal and an assist, and Anthony Stolarz made 23 saves for the Panthers (14-8-2), who lost their third straight home game.

“I thought we were real good,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “That guy stood on his head.”

Lee gave New York a 1-0 lead on the power play at 12:36 of the first period. He scored between his legs in front off a no-look pass by Kyle Palmieri from low in the right face-off circle.

“It was an important game for us, tough week of games against tough opponents in tough buildings,’’ said Lee, whose team defeated the host Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 in overtime Thursday after losing 5-4 at the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday to start the trip. “We wanted to make the trip a decent one, be able to come home on a decent note, continue to move forward.”

Sam Reinhart tied it 1-1 at 13:42 on a one-timer at the left side of the net.

Pierre Engvall put the Islanders back in front 2-1 at 4:37 of the second period on the rebound of an Alexander Romanov shot. Simon Holmstrom pushed it to 3-1 at 9:12 on a rebound after Stolarz made a pad save on Gauthier.

Matthew Tkachuk cut it to 3-2 at 13:14 with his first goal in 11 games, scoring with a wrist shot from high in the right circle after Verhaeghe fed him out of the corner.

It was Tkachuk’s fourth goal in 24 games this season after he scored 82 over the previous two seasons.

“I am not too worried about him,” Verhaeghe said of Tkachuk. “He is a leader on this team and one of the best players on this team. Sometimes the puck doesn’t bounce your way. He has been getting a lot of looks. He has stuck with it and is going to get a lot of goals.”

Gauthier extended the lead to 4-2 at 3:43 of the third. He scored from the top of the right circle off a face-off win by Horvat.

It was Gauthier’s first goal for the Islanders in his sixth game with them.

“Bo told me to go there,” Gauthier said. “He won the face-off nicely, I had a clear shot.”

Verhaeghe scored on a rebound at 9:36 for the 4-3 final.

“It is obviously fun to win,” Gauthier said. “We had a little tough stretch but we have won a couple here now and feel great.”

NOTES: The Islanders played without top-line center Mathew Barzal because of an illness. … Gauthier signed a two-year contract with New York on July 5.