New York Islanders were once again being hosted by the Florida Panthers, as their Stanley Cup game 5 took place Friday evening, with the series tied at two games each.
Thomas Greiss for the Islanders, and Roberto Luongo were once again in goal, and at the end of the game the two net minders picked up the first and second stars of the game, a game in which each net minder had to stop over forty shots each.
Nick Bjugstad was sent to the penalty box inside the first three minutes, after a high sticking infringement against Kyle Okposo, but the Panthers kept things tight and the Islanders never made it through to the goal.
Derek MacKenzie’s run from inside his own area, was stopped at the end by Greiss, when the puck was knocked away in to the corner, but Logan Shaw was there to pick it up and knocked it back in to Michael Matheson who had made it in to centre in front of the goal, but once again Greiss had his eye on the puck and this time got hold of it. By the time Garrett Wilson made it to the front of the Islanders goal, the rest of the Islanders were there to give him a bump, and to let him know that they will protect their goalie, but Greiss had control of the puck, and Wilson didn’t get near it.
After thirteen minutes of play, Frans Nielson made a run down the wing, but his shot from out wide was knocked down by Luongo. The Panthers failed to clear it properly, and Thomas Hickey was there to pick it up and have a close range shot, however, it was so close to Luongo he couldn’t get the angle to put the puck round him, and it bounced back out. Nielson was still there though, and picked up this rebound, and finally managed to find the back of the net.
Jonathan Huberdeau’s hook on Casey Cizikas put the Florida Panthers penalty killing unit back to work, and once again they did what they had to do, and Huberdeau made it back to the ice still only one goal down.
The second period saw the Islanders manage to take seven shots on goal, and the Panthers double that with fourteen, but neither team managed to get the puck between the pipes. The Panthers gifted the Islanders another power play, when they had too many men on the ice, but less than half way through, John Tavares slash on Jussi Jokinen made it four on four, then gave the Panthers a minute long power play of their own, but the end of the period came and the score was still 1-0 to the Islanders.
Less than two minutes in to the third, and the Panthers were cheering after Aleksander Barkov at the far post, knocked in a pass through the crease from Hickey. Â A challenge from Islanders coach, Jack Capuano held things up for a minute, but video review showed that they play was good, and the goal was counted.
Luongo and Greiss were both tested several times, but the third period ended with the score 1-1, and both teams managed a penalty free period.
During overtime, the Panthers were given a penalty shot after Calvin de Hann covered the puck in the crease, catching it in his hand and throwing it back out. Barkov stepped up to take the shot, but it was stopped by a combination of Greiss’ leg pad and glove.
With the score still 1-1 at the end of overtime, second overtime started and both teams were pushing hard to end the game.
Florida gave up a penalty, when Jaromir Jagr tripped Tavares, but for the fourth time of the game, the Islanders failed to use the extra man to their advantage.
After fourteen minutes of this overtime period, Tavares was the recipient of yet another infringement by the Panthers, this time in the form of a slash by Derek MacKenzie, giving the Islanders their fifth power play of this very long game.
The Islanders were using the extra man to send the puck round the Panthers zone, and Hickey passed to Marek Zidlicky. Zidlicky sent the puck on to Alan Quine – a man who only had his NHL debut two weeks ago. Quine was parked at the back of the circle, and his one timer went powering through traffic, past Luongo, and in to the net, ending the game and giving the Islanders the win.
The two teams will be back in New York, Sunday evening, with the Islanders now winning the series 3-2, with the possibility of advancing to the next round in front of their home fans.
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