Patric Hornqvist scored the tiebreaking goal less than four minutes into the third period Thursday night for the visiting Florida Panthers, who beat the New York Islanders 3-1 in Elmont, N.Y.
Eetu Luostarinen scored in the second period and Matthew Tkachuk added an empty-netter with 1:15 left for the Panthers, who won their fourth straight opener to improve to 14-9-1-3 (wins-losses-ties-OT losses) all-time in their first game of the season.
Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 saves.
Noah Dobson tied the score just prior to Hornqvist’s goal as the Islanders fell to 13-26-11 (wins-losses-ties) in season openers.
Goalie Ilya Sorokin recorded 26 saves.
The Panthers took the lead in quirky fashion after more than 30 scoreless minutes.
A clearing pass by Islanders defenseman Robin Salo bounced off the boards and to Florida center Colin White as he hit the slot. White dished to Radko Gudas, whose shot on net glanced off the stick of Luostarinen. The puck appeared to graze the skate of Salo as it trickled into the far corner of the net on Sorokin’s stick side with 7:15 left.
The Islanders tied the score and the Panthers took the lead in a 30-second span early in the third.
The Islanders scored on a power play generated when Gudas was whistled for hooking. Dobson and Brock Nelson exchanged the puck before Dobson’s shot from the slot sailed off the glove of Bobrovsky, who was screened by Anders Lee, at the 3:13 mark.
The goal had not even been announced at UBS Arena when Hornqvist batted down the rebound of a shot by Ryan Lomberg. He poked it off the side of the net and chased down the puck as he skated behind the net before curling a shot off Sorokin’s skate into the corner of the net.
Tkachuk, acquired from the Calgary Flames for Jonathan Huberdeau in a blockbuster trade in July, iced the victory just after the Islanders used their timeout.
–Field Level Media
