New York Islanders
Islanders Blow 3-0 Lead Against Panthers; Fall 6-3

ELMONT, NY — The New York Islanders fell to the Florida Panthers 6-3 on Saturday night in UBS Arena. Matthew Tkachuk helped the comeback Cats score six straight goals after the Panthers fell behind 3-0 in the first period. Tkachuk scored twice and added a primary assist. Sam Bennett scored the winning goal, redirecting a Tkachuk shot that leaked through Semyon Varlamov.
Varlamov did not have his best game tonight, allowing five goals on 27 shots. Spencer Knight allowed three goals on the first seven shots he saw but did not allow a goal after Brock Nelson’s back-door tap-in at 11:41 of the first period. Islanders’ Head Coach Patrick Roy added, “It’s tough because Varly’s been so good for us. He’s a big boy. He knows he could have maybe got a couple of those. But, hey, it’s a team game.”
The Islanders had three power plays at crucial times, one when leading 3-2 and another while trialing 4-3. The last came when the Islanders trailed 5-3 with just over four minutes to play. All three times, they failed, and the Panthers continued building momentum.
Postgame, Roy expressed disappointment at the lack of poise from the Islanders’ power play. Roy added, “It’s something we’re going to have to look at. The power play needs to produce. We have too much talent on this club to not be able to produce on the power play.”
Brock Nelson, Kyle Palmieri, and Dennis Cholowski had the goals for the Islanders. Aside from Tkachuk and Bennett, Mackie Samoskevich scored his first NHL goal, while Sam Reinhart started the comeback. Gustav Forsling polished things off with an empty-netter for the Panthers.
First Period:
The game couldn’t have started any better for the New York Islanders. Dennis Cholowski, in his first NHL game since January 19, 2023, scored just 1:32 in on a nice wrister from the blue line. Spencer Knight never saw the shot as it flew past.
Early on, you’d be forgiven if you thought the Panthers were the team in the second half of a back-to-back. The Islanders continued to surge, and eventually, Ryan Pulock flung a shot toward the front. Kyle Palmieri tipped it down and stuffed in the rebound for his fourth of the young season. That goal came at 6:01 of the first period.
At 2-0, Simon Holmstrom took a high-sticking minor. The Islanders killed it off with surprising ease, limiting the Panthers to only outside looks that caused no true harm.
Later, the Islanders second line struck again. Palmieri whizzed around the outside and slid the puck to Maxim Tsyplakov. Tsyplakov sent a turnaround shot that banked off the boards right into Brock Nelson on the backdoor. Nelson made no mistake and scored his fourth of the year. 3-0 Islanders.
Less than two minutes later, Cholowski failed to get the puck in deep from the neutral zone. He and Scott Mayfield went to change, but the puck came to Sam Reinhart, who walked in all alone and wired the puck past Semyon Varlamov.
Second Period:
After Florida’s marker late in the first, they had all the momentum. That trend continued into the second period, despite the Islanders rebuffing the Panthers with a stifling forecheck, limiting Panthers breakouts for the first few minutes.
The best early chance came off a break for Nelson, who got in all alone. Knight denied him, and the tide began to turn.
The Panthers worked through the pressure and began to generate more chances. Then, the Islanders failed to break the puck out, and Carter Verhaeghe sent a shot that hit the post and bounced back into Varlamov, who didn’t know where it was. Matthew Tkachuk did and smacked it from behind Varlamov’s legs and in. Varlamov gave him a nice stick to the guts as he did it for good measure.
At 3-2, the Islanders received a power play after Anton Lundell caught Mike Reilly with a high stick. The power play ultimately became a non-factor, with the Panthers completely limiting the Islanders to the outside.
After the power play, Mackie Samoskevich found himself wide open on blown coverage but rang iron. Simon Holmstrom stole the puck and sprung Bo Horvat and Mat Barzal for a 2-on-1. Horvat sent it to Barzal in alone, and his shot also kissed the pipe.
Samoskevich then caught the Islanders flat-footed, blowing past the defense and wrapping it around Varlamov’s cage and in with ease. The Islanders made it far too easy for Samoskevich to record his first NHL goal late in the frame.
Third Period:
The Matthew Tkachuk takeover commenced. The Islanders’ woes continued as Florida just carried play better than them. Overall, the blue and orange fatigued themselves building that first-period lead and couldn’t keep up after that.
With under 14 minutes to play, Tkachuk sent an innocent-looking puck toward Varlamov. Varlamov couldn’t control it, as it leaked through him and off Sam Bennett’s leg and in.
Fate gave the Islanders another chance, though, as Bennett held Adam Pelech on the ensuing shift, putting the Islanders on their second power play of the game.
With it, the Islanders showed a lack of poise and didn’t generate anything. Right after it expired, Palmieri took a slashing penalty. Florida, showing the poise you’d expect from the defending Stanley Cup Champion, took advantage.
Tkachuk beat Varlamov pretty cleanly from the slot, and that was that. The stingy Panthers would not allow the Islanders to come back from down by two.
Despite one final power play, the Islanders could not beat Knight again. Forsling slung a shot from his end of the ice all the way into the Islanders’ vacant cage.
Other Thoughts:
Pierre Engvall generated some chances using his speed, but the top line of Horvat, Barzal, and Holmstrom remained quiet at 5v5. Matt Martin used his physicality as expected, but nothing special or flashy from Martin.
Dennis Cholowski had an up-and-down game. Yes, he scored, but he finished a -1 on the night. If Alexander Romanov is to return on Tuesday, it’ll be for Cholowski without question.
The top line has not been good enough. Barzal has not had a 5v5 point this season. He has a 5v6 point, courtesy of his empty-net goal in Colorado. He hasn’t scored on a goalie this year. He’s got just two power-play points and the primary assist in 3v3 overtime to Horvat. Tonight, Barzal finished with a -2 with no shots on goal, three missed shots, and two attempts blocked.
The Islanders have now played four home games. They’ve blown a lead in three of them and got shutout in the other. As a whole, they’re just 1-1-2 at home through the first four. The last two games haven’t drawn a great crowd. Tuesday gets chalked up to an early-season game at a later-than-usual start time. Tonight’s game couldn’t compete with the New York Yankees in the World Series.
The next Islanders game is on Tuesday against the Anaheim Ducks. The Yankees play a home World Series game that night in the Bronx. Could very well see a new record-low crowd just one week after hitting that mark against Detroit.
That game with the Ducks gets underway on Tuesday night at 7 o’clock.