Panthers enter All-Star Break on four-game win streak
The game played out oh-so-similarly to the one night before. For a second consecutive night, the Florida Panthers allowed their opponent to tie the game late after they pulled their goalie for an extra skater.
This time, though, the Panthers finished off their win in overtime instead of waiting for the shootout.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored 1:55 into overtime to lead the Panthers to a 3-2 win over the New York Islanders. One night earlier, the Panthers had to go to a shootout to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins.
And with that, they head into the All-Star Break on a high note.
Florida’s 31-14-4 record is the second-best mark in the Eastern Conference behind only the Boston Bruins.
They won each of their final four games and have won a franchise record eight consecutive games on the road — their last road loss came on Dec. 18 at Calgary. The Islanders fall to 20-17-12.
Ekman-Larsson’s goal came on a two-on-one rush with Evan Rodgriues, with the defenseman beating Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov. It was Ekman-Larsson’s eighth career overtime goal and first since Oct. 15, 2016, while playing with the Coyotes.
Sam Reinhart and Matthew Tkachuk scored on the power play in regulation for Florida’s other two goals.
Reinhart’s power-play goal in the second period was his 20th goal on the man advantage this season, breaking the franchise record initially set by Scott Mellanby in the 1995-96 season and then matched by Pavel Bure in the 2000-01 season.
Tkachuk then scored with 14:01 left in regulation when he deflected in a shot from Aleksander Barkov on the power play to give Florida a 2-1 lead. Tkachuk also had the primary assist on Reinhart’s goal for his sixth multi-point game in the month of January.
In 13 January games, Reinhart and Tkachuk combined for 25 goals.
Saturday was the Panthers’ second consecutive game with multiple power-play goals and the ninth time overall this season they did so.
PUTTING REINHART’S POWER-PLAY PROWESS INTO PERSPECTIVE
Reinhart’s 20 powerplay goals lead the NHL this season. Entering Sunday, there were five teams that had 20 goals or fewer on the power-play this season.
To phrase it another way, Reinhart has as many or more power-play goals as five of the NHL’s other 31 teams.
Those teams: the San Jose Sharks, Buffalo
Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins all have 20 power-play goals, while the Chicago Blackhawks and Washington Capitals have 19 power-play goals each.
With 20 power-play goals in 49 games, Reinhart is on pace for 33 power-play goals over the full 82-game season.
For what it’s worth, the
NHL record for most power-play goals in a season is 34 by Tim Kerr in the 1985-86 season.
Only five players have ever cracked 30: Kerr, Leon Draisaitl (32 in 2022-23 season), Dave Andreychuk (32 in 199293 season), Mario Lemieux (31 twice, first in 1988-89 season and then again in 1995-96 season) and Joe Nieuwendyk (31 in 1987-88 season).
In addition to setting the Panthers’ franchise record for power-play goals in a season, Reinhart’s 24 total special teams goals (he also has four shorthanded goals) are tied with Bure for the most in franchise record.
Additionally, Reinhart’s 13-game point streak is tied for second-longest in Panthers history — four shy of Mike Hoffman’s record of 17 games — and his 37 total goals are the eighth-most in franchise history and three shy of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews for the most in the NHL this season.
ANTHONY STOLARZ STARS ON THE ROAD
Panthers goaltender Anthony Stolarz entered Saturday as one of the NHL’s best goaltenders on the road this season, posting a .930 save percentage and 1.81 goals against average. His start against the Islanders was more of the same.
Stolarz stopped the first 14 shots he faced and 21 of 23 overall.
And, for good measure, Stolarz was credited with the secondary assist on Ekman-Larsson’s overtime goal.
The Islanders’ Simon Holmstrom tied the game at 1-1 with 3:31 left in the second period when he scored immediately off a New York offensive zone
For summaries, complete standings, scores go to the eEdition at MiamiHerald.com.
Boston Florida Tampa Bay Toronto Detroit Buffalo Montreal Ottawa Metropolitan
N.Y. Rangers Carolina Philadelphia N.Y. Islanders Pittsburgh New Jersey Washington Columbus
Colorado Dallas Winnipeg St. Louis Nashville Arizona Minnesota Chicago Pacific
GP W LOT Pts GF GA
49 31 9 9 71 173 128 49 31 14 4 66 158 127 50 27 18 5 59 175 164 47 25 14 8 58 166 150 49 26 18 5 57 174 158 49 22 23 4 48 146 155 49 20 21 8 48 136 175 45 18 25 2 38 151 165 GP W L OT Pts GF GA
49 30 16 3 48 28 15 5 50 25 19 6 49 20 17 12 46 22 17 7 47 24 20 3 47 22 18 7 48 15 23 10
63 161 142 61 163 144 56 147 148 52 143 166 51 138 126 51 161 168 51 115 146 40 145 180
GP W LOT Pts GF GA
49 32 14 3 67 190 153 49 30 13 6 66 183 151 47 30 12 5 65 148 109 48 26 20 2 54 141 152 49 26 22 1 53 148 152 48 23 22 3 49 143 147 49 21 23 5 47 149 166 50 14 34 2 30 105 177 GP W LOT Pts GF GA
Vancouver 49 33 11 5 71 186 127 Vegas 50 29 15 6 64 163 138 Edmonton 45 29 15 1 59 160 124 Los Angeles 47 22 15 10 54 148 130 Seattle 48 20 18 10 50 136 143 Calgary 49 22 22 5 49 149 155 Anaheim 49 17 30 2 36 126 168 San Jose 49 13 32 4 30 103 196 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss.
Top three teams in each division and two wild cards per conference advance to playoffs. faceoff.
New York then tied the game with 1:29 left in regulation on a Kyle Palmieri one-timer when the Islanders pulled Varlamov for an extra attacker.
Saturday marked Stolarz’s seventh consecutive road start in which he allowed no more than two goals.
On the season overall, Stolarz’s record is 8-4-2.
TIME FOR A BREAK
The Panthers will be off
SATURDAY
Florida 3, NY Islanders 2 (OT)
Boston 6, Philadelphia 2
Dallas 5, Washington 4 (OT) Buffalo 5, San Jose 2 Edmonton 4, Nashville 1 Toronto 4, Winnipeg 2 Carolina 3, Arizona 1 NY Rangers 7, Ottawa 2 Pittsburgh 3, Montreal 2 (OT) Tampa Bay 6, New Jersey 3 Detroit 5, Vegas 2
Anaheim 3, Minnesota 2 Vancouver 5, Columbus 4 (OT) Calgary 1, Chicago 0
SUNDAY
St. Louis 4, Los Angeles 3, OT Columbus at Seattle
MONDAY
Nashville at Ottawa, 7
TUESDAY
Columbus at St. Louis, 8 Seattle at San Jose, 10:30
Florida 0 1 1 1—3 New York 0 1 1 0—2
First Period:—None. Penalties:— Gadjovich, Fla (tripping), 13:16; Engvall, Nyi (hooking), 18:53.
Second Period:—1, Florida, Reinhart 37 (M.Tkachuk, Verhaeghe) 7:56 (pp) 2, NY Islanders, Holmstrom 12 (Pageau, Wahlstrom) 16:29. Penalties:—Barzal, Nyi (hooking), 6:49; MacLean, Nyi (tripping), 10:48.
Third Period:—3, Florida, M.Tkachuk 16 (Barkov, Montour) 5:59 (pp) 4, NY Islanders, Palmieri 13 (Dobson, Barzal) 18:31. Penalties:—Bolduc, Nyi (tripping), 5:12.
Overtime:—5, Florida, Ekman-Larsson 9 (Rodrigues, Stolarz) 1:57. Penalties:— None.
Shots on Goal:—Florida 4-17-13-3—37. NY Islanders 7-8-7-1—23. Power plays:— Florida 2 of 4; NY Islanders 0 of 1.
Goalies:—Florida Stolarz 8-4-2 (23 shots-21 saves). NY Islanders Varlamov 6-5-3 (37-34).
A:—17,255 (17,113). T:—2:35. Referees:—Beau Halkidis, Eric Furlatt.
Linesmen:—Ryan Daisy, Jonny Murray. for the next week-and-half for the All-Star Break along with their regularseason bye week.
When they do return to action, it will begin with a three-game homestand on Feb. 6 against the Philadelphia Flyers, Feb. 8 against the Capitals and Feb. 10 against the Colorado Avalanche.