The New York Islanders defeat the Florida Panthers in game one of the Stanley Cup Qualifiers with a score of 2-1. The Islanders lead this best-of-five series 1-0. The game was played at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario. Here’s a recap of game one between the Islanders and Panthers.
1st Period
The Islanders took control in the early stages of the period due to the sloppy play of the Panthers. They were able to get off scoring chances from virtually anywhere in the Panthers zone. The Panthers started to show some life by the midpoint of the period though Islanders forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored the game’s first goal at the 8:00 mark. From there, Florida was able to take reign for the rest of the period. But, the Islanders are one of the best defensive teams in the league and that showed during the final minutes of the period.
New York went into the second period with a 1-0 lead.
2nd Period
This period mostly consisted of when each team had a momentum swing. The Islanders started off this period strong especially on their fourth power play of the game. Islanders forward Anthony Beauvillier scored on the power play giving the Islanders a two goal lead. However, the Panthers controlled most of the period outshooting the Isles 14-7. The only reason why Florida didn’t score thus far is because of Islanders’ goaltender Semyon Varlamov. Though, Panthers’ goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made a huge save 33 seconds before the period ended.
New York went into the third period with a 2-0 lead.
3rd Period
The Panthers knew they had to get shots towards the net as soon as possible since they were down 2-0 going into this period. Well, look no further than Panthers captain Jonathon Huberdreau as he scored 23 seconds into the period. However, New York was able to sustain Florida from scoring again though the score could’ve been worse. Bobrovsky saved all 10 Islanders’ third period shots, keeping the lead to one.
In the end, Florida couldn’t find a way to get another goal on Varlamov. New York won game one 2-1.
Even though the Panthers lost, Bobrovsky had a great game given that he didn’t have a stellar season with the Panthers this year. He allowed 3.23 GAA with a .900 save percentage in his debut season with Florida.
Three Stars of the Game
Third Star: Aaron Ekblad (3 hits)
Second Star: Devon Toews (1 assist)
First Star: Jean-Gabriel Pageau (1 goal)
Game two of the Islanders-Panthers series is on Aug. 4 at 12 pm EST.