Graphic design: Francisco Oporta
The Florida Panthers (41-24-3) will shoot for the season-series sweep when they pay a visit to the middling New York Islanders (29-28-7) tonight at UBS Arena.
The Panthers held the Montreal Canadiens to just 15 shots last night at Bell Centre, but the Habs scored a 3-1 victory on goals from Patrik Laine, Cole Caufield and Christian Dvorak. Florida’s only marker came off the stick of rookie Mackie Samoskevich, who built a three-game point streak for the first time in his burgeoning career. Carter Verhaeghe drew the primary assist and Sam Bennett was credited with the secondary, extending his point streak to five games.
The offensively-challenged Islanders enter tonight’s tilt on a three-game losing streak. After suffering defeats in Anaheim and Los Angeles, New York opened a two-game homestand on Friday with a 2-1 overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers. They have scored just three times in the last three games, so they will looking to break-out against new Florida goaltender Vitek Vanecek, who should get the start on the second half of the back-to-back. Veteran Anders Lee leads the Islanders in goals (25) and in scoring with 45 points, one more than Bo Horvat.
- WHEN: 7:30 p.m. ET
- WHERE: UBS Arena – Elmont, NY
- ON THE TUBE: Scripps, MSGSN
- ON THE DIAL: 560 WQAM (D/B), 1230 The Gambler (PB), Thunder 100.3 (Keys)
- SOCIALS: #TimeToHunt, #Isles, #FLAvsNYI, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
- ENEMY INTEL: Lighthouse Hockey
- FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 3 of 3 (2-0)
- LAST MEETING: @FLA 6, NYI 3 (Recap) – 2/2/2024
- NEXT MEETING: Playoffs or 2025-26 season
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Florida: Vanecek (4-10-3 .886 / 3.66 1SO) New York: Sorokin (24-20-5 .907 / 2.75 0SO)
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / New York
Sunday in the Atlantic (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances)
Idle: TBL (86P), TOR (86P), OTT (77P), MON (71P), BOS (70P), BUF (58P)
