ISLES’ RATY SCORES IN DEBUT
Rookie’s goal, two by Beauvillier lift Islanders past Panthers
Aatu Raty scored in his NHL debut, Anthony Beauvillier added two goals and Ilya Sorokin made 22 saves, leading the Islanders to a 5-1 win over the Florida Panthers on Friday night.
Ryan Pulock and Zach Parise also scored for the Islanders.
Matthew Tkachuk scored his 15th goal of the season for Florida, which had won its two earlier meetings against the Islanders this season. Sergei Bobrovsky made 38 saves.
Raty, a 20-year-old Finnish rookie recalled from AHL Bridgeport earlier in the day, beat Bobrovsky at 7:10 of the third. A second-round pick by the Islanders in 2021, Raty replaced injured center Casey Cizikas in the lineup. Anders Lee and Beauvilier assisted on Raty’s goal.
Parise’s 11th goal of the season was the 419th of his career.
Beauvillier opened the scoring for the Islanders and closed out the scoring with an empty-net goal at 15:50 for his eighth goal of the season.
The inconsistent Panthers are 2-60 in their last eight games and 15-16-4 overall. They were coming off a 4-2 home loss to New Jersey on Wednesday after a 7-3 road loss at Boston on Monday.
Brock Nelson, who picked up an assist on Beauvillier’s first goal, left the game midway through the second after he was hit in the helmet by a clearing pass by defenseman Alexander Romanov.
NOTES: Defenseman Parker Wotherspoon, a fourth-round pick by the Islanders in 2015, also made his NHL debut . ... The Islanders were 0-4-1 in their last five games against Florida, scoring only seven goals in those five games . ... Islanders coach Lane Lambert said before the game that forward Casey Cizikas was day to day with an upper-body injury following Thursday loss to the Rangers. … The Islanders also placed forward Kyle Palmieri (Dec. 16) and
goaltender Semyon Varlamov (Dec. 17) on IR, retroactive to their dates. … New York scratched forward Ross Johnston and defenseman Robin Salo. … Florida scratched captain Aleksander Barkov (missing a third-straight game with suspected knee injury) and forwards Colin White and Chris Tierney.
UP NEXT
Islanders: Host Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.
Panthers: Host Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.