SUNRISE, Fla. — Aleksander Barkov scored the go-ahead goal in the third period, and the Florida Panthers beat the New York Islanders 4-2 on Saturday night.
Troy Brouwer, Mike Hoffman and Denis Malgin also scored for the Panthers, who won their third straight. Roberto Luongo made 29 saves for his third straight win after missing nearly a month with a knee injury.
Brock Nelson and Mathew Barzal scored goals for New York, which has lost three in a row after winning its previous five. Robin Lehner stopped 27 shots.
Brouwer recorded an empty-net goal with less than a second remaining.
The Panthers went ahead 3-2 on a 4-on-3 power play at 4:43 of the third period when Barkov’s shot from the left circle beat Lehner.
Nelson put the Islanders ahead 2-1 on his wrist shot from the slot at 8:10 of the second.
Florida tied the game on Hoffman’s goal with 45 seconds left in the second. Hoffman backhanded a pass from behind the net that deflected off the skate of defenceman Ryan Pulock into the net, extending Hoffman’s points streak to 11 games.
The Panthers took a 1-0 lead on Malgin’s goal. Jared McCann passed from behind the net out to Malgin, who pushed the puck past Lehner at 6:18 of the first. The goal was Malgin’s first of the season.
The Islanders tied it just over a minute later when Barzal flipped a backhanded shot past Luongo on a breakaway. Nelson leads the Islanders with eight goals.
NOTES: The Panthers hosted Bill Torrey Tribute Night for the late Hall of Famer. Torrey, who died in May 2018, was the general manager of the Islanders from their inception in 1972 through 1992, a run that included four Stanley Cups. He then was president of the expansion Panthers from 1993-2001. … Panthers forward Evgenii Dadonov’s assist on Hoffman’s goal was his 100th NHL point and extended his points streak to 10 games. … Islanders D Pulock and C Barzal each played in his 100th NHL game.
UP NEXT
Islanders: Host the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.
Panthers: Host the Ottawa Senators on Sunday.
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Paul Gereffi, The Associated Press