NY Islanders 4, Florida 2
When: 7:30 PM ET, Sunday, March 16, 2025
Where: UBS Arena, Elmont, New York
Referees:
Francis Charron, Brandon Schrader
Linesmen:
Devin Berg, Jonny Murray
Attendance:
15109
By Field Level Media
Marc Gatcomb, Maxim Tsyplakov and Noah Dobson scored in a span of a little more than six minutes in the third period Sunday night for the New York Islanders, who stormed back to beat the Florida Panthers 4-2 in Elmont, N.Y.
The Islanders (30-28-8) were outshooting the Panthers 27-12 when Gatcomb began the comeback by collecting his own rebound and scoring on a wraparound at the 6:29 mark of the third.
New York tied the game with 8:44 left when Mike Reilly sent a clearing pass through the neutral zone to a streaking Tsyplakov, who nudged a shot through Vitek Vanecek's legs to cap the breakaway.
Reilly returned to action Sunday after missing more than four months following surgery to address a heart condition discovered after he suffered a concussion on Nov. 1.
Dobson collected the game-winner just 17 seconds later. The defenseman intercepted a pass by Uvis Balinskis and the puck bounced to Anders Lee before Dobson picked it up, bore in on Vanecek and flicked a shot over his glove.
The Panthers (41-24-3) pulled Vanecek with a little under two minutes remaining. Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin stopped three shots during a pair of frantic pileups in the crease before New York won a face-off and Simon Holmstrom scored an empty-netter from his own end with 6.3 seconds left.
The win was just the second this season in which the Islanders overcame a two-goal third-period deficit. They beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-3, in a shootout on Nov. 5.
Sorokin made 22 saves Sunday for the Islanders, who snapped a three-game losing streak (0-2-1) and moved within four points of the New York Rangers in the race for the Eastern Conference's second wild-card spot.
Sam Reinhart scored one minute into the second and Aleksander Barkov doubled the lead at the 4:48 mark for the Panthers, who lost for the second time in as many nights and for the third time in four games (1-3-0). Florida fell 3-1 to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.
Vanecek recorded 30 saves for Florida, which visits the Columbus Blue Jackets next on Thursday.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
Florida |
|
NY Islanders |
Aleksander Barkov 2 |
Points |
Tony DeAngelo 2 |
Aleksander Barkov 1 |
Goals |
Noah Dobson 1 |
Aleksander Barkov 1 |
Assists |
Tony DeAngelo 2 |
Aleksander Barkov 1 |
Power Play Goals |
N/A |
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
Vitek Vanecek .909 |
Save Percentage |
Ilya Sorokin .917 |
Vitek Vanecek 30 |
Saves |
Ilya Sorokin 22 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
Florida
|
24 |
2 |
1-2 |
3-3 |
6 |
25 |
NY Islanders
|
34 |
4 |
0-3 |
1-2 |
4 |
21 |
Upcoming Games
-
NY Islanders will play their next game on the road against Pittsburgh. The Islanders have a W/L % of .400 after a win and .500 after a loss.
-
Florida will play their next game on the road against Columbus. The Panthers have a W/L % of .571 after a win and .654 after a loss.