Islanders advance by routing Florida in Game 4

Toronto — The New York Islanders like to rely on defenseman Ryan Pulock's blistering point shot to help generate offense.

On Friday, they advanced to the first round of the NHL playoffs courtesy of Pulock using his stick to make a clutch defensive play and secure a preliminary round series-clinching 5-1 win over Florida in Game 4 of their best-of-five series.

Some 25 seconds after Brock Nelson scored to put the Islanders up 3-1 at the 12:01 mark of the second period, Pulock dived across the crease to prevent Panthers leading scorer Aleksander Barkov from scoring into an open net.

“To me, it was one of those defining moments,” Islanders coach Barry Trotz said of Pulock managing to stretch out his stick and deflect Barkov's backhander over the net. “That was a 4-by-6 open net, and he was able to get his stick in there. Those are the plays, the commitment, the extra effort that wins you those inches. We had a lot of that today.”

Anthony Beauvillier scored twice in staking the Islanders to a 2-0 first-period lead, and Brock Nelson and Mathew Barzal had a goal an assist each in a game the Islanders never trailed. Semyon Varlamov stopped 24 shots, Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored an empty-netter, and the Eastern Conference's seventh-seeded Islanders bounced back from a 3-2 loss in Game 3 on Wednesday.

New York will open the best-of-seven first-round series next week against a yet to be determined opponent.

Mike Hoffman scored his third goal and fifth point of the series for Florida.