National Hockey League
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

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.