The New York Islanders edged out the Florida Panthers on Saturday for a 1-0 series lead, with a 2-1 victory.
Semyon Varlamov made 27 saves to get the win.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Anthony Beauvillier were the strikers for the Isles.
“I really think that that little break gave me a chance to know a little more of the system, getting to know the guys more,” said Pageau, who was 8-for-10 on face-offs. “I feel very lucky to be part of this family. I really feel that this is a brotherhood, and to be part of it, I feel very lucky.”
Jonathan Huberdeau scored the Panthers’ lone goal.
“When we went into the second intermission, we said we had to score the next one and that’s what we did,” Huberdeau said. “It was good for the team. After that, I think we pushed really hard we just didn’t find the back of the net. We have two [days off] between Game 2 and [we have to] come back as hard as we finished.”
Game Two is Monday in Toronto.
“We got better once the game went on in the second, third period. We were good,” the Panthers’ Aleksander Barkov said. “[We were] putting a lot of pressure on them. Game 2 starts from 0-0, so we have to keep doing what we did in the second half of the game and keep getting better, keep building on that and we should be fine.
“We’re really excited and we’re really happy about our late push. Obviously not the result we wanted, but we’re going to get better.”
[WATCH: All Panthers vs. Islanders highlights]
Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 save in the loss.
“He responded. He had a great game,” Florida coach Joel Quenneville said. “I thought he made several key saves all alone a couple times in tight. [He] looked quick. [He] gave us a chance to get something out of today’s game.”
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