Panthers start fast, hold off Islanders

The Florida Panthers started fast before holding on for a 3-2 win against the New York Islanders at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on Sunday.

Anton Lundell and Ryan Lomberg scored their first goals of the season for Florida (4-1-1). Spencer Knight made 23 saves.
"We just tried to hit the ground running and play our game," Knight said. "We've played a lot of close games. It's a testament to our character and the guys in the room. We stick to the game plan. Everyone's playing for the team and not playing for themselves."
Anders Lee scored two power-play goals, and Mathew Barzal had two assists for New York (2-4-0), which has lost three in a row. Semyon Varlamov made 29 saves.
Forward Anthony Beauvillier was a healthy scratch one day after Josh Bailey did not play in a 5-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.
"We're close," Islanders coach Lane Lambert said in response to a question regarding settling on a regular lineup. "We've got to lock it down here soon."

Lundell scored 39 seconds into the game to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead. Following a turnover by Adam Pelech behind the net, Lundell skated out along the goal line and scored from a sharp angle off the stick of Varlamov.
"It's real nice," Lundell said. "It's the first one, so it's only one way (to go) from here."
Eetu Luostarinen extended the lead to 2-0 at 9:13. After his initial shot ramped up and hit Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson in the throat, Luostarinen regained control of the puck and scored with a shot that hit off the stick of Sebastian Aho and knuckled past Varlamov.
"We knew they were [going to] come hard, and we at times struggle breaking pucks out, so we spent a little more in our zone than we wanted to," Lambert said.

Lee cut it to 2-1 at 4:27 of the second period during a four-minute power play. He deflected a shot from Barzal that hit Knight and trickled over the goal line.
"Brought the puck to the net (and) gave our guys a chance," Lee said about the power play. "Moved it up top, supported one another. All the basic stuff. It's not too difficult. It's hard to execute sometimes, but the concepts [aren't hard]."
Lomberg pushed it to 3-1 at 2:56 of the third with a slap shot from the left circle after the puck popped out to him from along the boards.
"I was just so excited," Lomberg said.

Lee scored his second on the power play on a rebound in front at 9:07 for the 3-2 final.
New York was limited to 25 shots for the game, with only 13 coming at 5-on-5.
"It was a pretty tight checking game," Bailey said. "There wasn't a lot out there. You [have to] be patient in those situations to try not to force things, and you know, it seems like [there are] a lot of games like that."
NOTES:New York was 4-for-4 on the penalty kill and is 22-for-22 this season. … Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk had his point streak end at five games.