In the season opener on Oct. 13 on Long Island, Eetu Luostarinen, Patric Hornqvist and Matthew Tkachuk all scored to lead the Panthers to a 3-1 win over the Islanders. Between the pipes, Sergei Bobrovsky turned aside 32 of the 33 shots that New York fired in his direction.
Overall, Florida has won each of its last four games against the Islanders.
"That was a hard game," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. "It was that grind that we're trying to get real good at and being able to play in those almost low-event kind of games where every puck is contested. … They're hard on details. They've got a lot of veteran players. There's shot blocking and competition on every puck. They run their routes right and don't make casual mistakes. You've got to be prepared to play a game where you have to grind for the full 60 minutes."
Picking up three out of a possible four points to start their homestand, the Panthers enter tonight's matchup on the heels of a 3-2 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday. Tkachuk and Rudolfs Balcers scored for the Panthers, while Brayden Point netted the game-tying goal in the third period as well as the game-winning goal on the power play in overtime for the Lightning.
Balcers has scored in consecutive games for the Panthers, while Tkachuk leads the team in goals (3), assists (5) and points (8). Per NHL PR, Tkachuk is also the first player in franchise history to register at least one point in each of the team's first five games to start a campaign.
Sitting at 3-1-1, Florida has scored three or more goals in four of five games.
"I think the whole team's started good," Panthers defenseman Gus Forsling said. "We're battling out there and working hard. We're having a lot of fun. … I feel like we've kept building from the last couple years. We've got a core group here and all of the new guys are really fitting in."
Losing each of their last two games to fall to 2-3-0, the Islanders enter tonight's matchup coming off a 5-3 loss at Tampa Bay on Saturday. Matt Martin, Anthony Beauvillier and Ryan Pulock all lit the lamp for the Islanders, while Ilya Sorokin surrendered five goals on just 26 shots in defeat.
"We just made some big mistakes at some bad times," Islanders forward Cal Clutterbuck said after the loss. "When you're a team that wins consistently, you don't make those mistakes... We'll correct it. The main positive was that I think we were on our toes for most of the night and we carried the play most of the night. Sometimes it doesn't happen for you. Sometimes they make you work for it. We just have to show up tomorrow and do the same."
Earning at least one point in four of five games this season, Brock Nelson is tied with Anders Lee for the team's scoring lead with five points. After them, Oliver Wahlstrom, Noah Dobson and Mathew Barzal have all registered four points.
With Sorokin starting on Saturday, Semyon Varlamov is likely to get the nod for New York tonight. In his lone start of the season, Varlamov made 26 saves to backstop the Islanders to a 5-2 win over the San Jose Sharks on Oct. 18.
Dating back to last season, Florida has won 12 of its past 14 regular-season games at home.
