Panthers frustrated by Sorokin, Islanders in 4-3 home loss
Florida has lost three straight games on home ice while being outscored 10-4
The Florida Panthers ran into an extremely hot goaltender on Saturday night at Amerant Bank Arena, dominating the New York Islanders for most of the night but ultimately falling by a 4-3 margin.
Florida’s first home game in over a week saw the Cats imposing their will on the visiting Islanders right off the hop, but some nights the bounces just don't go your way.
Ten minutes into the game, the Cats held the edge in shots 7-0 and had limited the Islanders to a paltry three shot attempts.
An offensive zone hooking penalty by Carter Verhaeghe gave New York the first power play of the game.
It took them all of seven seconds to cash in, when Anders Lee deflected a Kyle Palmieri shot between the legs of Antony Stolarz to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead.
Sixty-six seconds later, Sam Reinhart finished off a pretty passing play from Evan Rodrigues and Brandon Montour to quickly tie the game at one.
Between Montour’s no-look dish and Rodrigues’ shot-pass, all Reinhart had to do was hit the empty net for his 16th tally of the season.
Despite the Panthers dominating the majority of play and possession, the Islanders were hanging tight thanks to an excellent effort in goal by Ilya Sorokin.
Just a few minutes into the second period Pierre Engvall was in the right place at the right time, swatting a rebound opportunity past Stolarz, who had been battling a screen, to put New York back in front 2-1.
Another rebound chance not long after would find its way to Simon Holmstrom’s blade, and he popped the puck into the yawning cage to give the visitors a two-goal lead at the game’s midway point.
Shots were 20-14 Florida and yet the Panthers were behind 3-1.
As we’ve come to expect when this team falls behind, the Comeback Cats emerged to try and save the day.
It started with a heavy wrist shot from Matthew Tkachuk that beat Sorokin to the blocker side, cutting New York’s lead in half late in the second period.
Florida then opened the third period with a power play and put eight shots on Sorokin in a matter of minutes, but an icing call gave the Isles a draw in the Panthers end and Julien Gauthier snapped a shot past a screened Stolarz to put New York back up by two.
Halfway through the period, Verhaeghe pounced on a Gus Forsling rebound and wrapped a backhand around Sorokin to make it a one-goal game again.
From there Sorokin would shut things down, making 19 of his 44 saves during the final frame while earning a win for his Islanders.
The loss was the third in a row for the Panthers on home ice. They'll be back in action on Wednesday when they host the Dallas Stars.
Here are some thoughts and observations from Saturday’s frustrating loss:
For the second game in a row, Verhaeghe logged a two-point outing.
Once again Florida’s top line was analytically dominant. Even strength shots when they were on the ice were 15-5 Panthers, scoring chances were 12-5 and high danger chances were 4-2.
Tkachuk’s goal was just his fourth of the season and first in ten games. Perhaps this will get him going, scoring-wise.
Niko Mikkola picked up an assist, bringing his season point total to nine. His career high of 13 points came in 54 games during the 2021-22 season with St. Louis.
Sorokin stopped 12 of Florida’s 13 high danger shots on a night his expected goals against was 4.37.
Former Panthers defenseman Mike Reilly played 8:51 for New York, logging three shots and a hit.
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