Florida Panthers went to New York to face the Islanders, without Nick Bjugstad on Sunday night, after Bjugstad suffered an upper body injury in game five, Friday.
The Islanders were leading the series 3-2 coming in to this game, after beating the Panthers in double overtime in their last game, in Florida.
Roberto Luongo and Thomas Greiss were in their respective goals, once again. These two net minders having played all the playoff games so far this year, and showing no signs of wanting a break yet.
Only one penalty in the first period, and this was when Jaromir Jagr hooked Kyle Okposo. Panthers penalty kill unit were up to the task though, and the Islanders failed to make a mark.
With just over a minute to play in the first, a stolen puck in centre ice by Jussi Jokinen was quickly passed off to Vincent Trocheck, and was sent on to Jonathan Huberdeau. Huberdeau tried to head to the goal, but ended up with Travis Hamonic’s stick stuck between his legs. As he went down though, Huberdeau managed to get his stick behind the puck, and flicked it straight over Greiss’s shoulder, putting the Panthers in to the lead in time for the first break.
There were scrambles in front of both goals, and the shots on goals came thick and fast through the second, both net minders earning their money by not letting anything through.
The second period had penalties, the Islanders first lost Nikolay Kulemin for hooking Jiri Hudler, and minutes after he returned to the ice the Islanders then lost Okposo for tripping Reilly Smith. The Panthers, however, Didn’t get much of a power play, and Hudler’s interference on Casey Cizikas made it four on four until thirty seconds before the next break.
Another pair of penalties in the third, one for each team, meant there was a lot of work going on in the third. Panthers had their power play first, when Thomas Hickey was called for interference against Smith. After he came back, Hickey was crosschecked by Huberdeau, giving the Islanders a power play.
Both net minders were up to the task, however, and it looked like the Panthers were going to force game seven in the series, and Greiss had headed to the bench to get an extra skater on. The Panthers managed to get the puck dangerously close to the Islanders goal.
Somehow, the puck was taken from the goal line by Nick Leddy, who went all the way down the other end of the ice, his pass in to the crease was helped towards the goal by Matt Martin, but Luongo kicked it away. Kulemin was there to have a shot, but again Luongo blocked it. John Tavares, however, was there, and with Luongo now well off his line, it was a simple matter for Tavares to knock it in to the goal, with less than a minute left in regulation.
The game went to overtime, which saw eight shots against Greiss and fifteen against Luongo, but no goals or penalties in the first period of overtime meant a second period happened.
Again, no penalties in this period, and obviously both teams were starting to tire, as evidenced by four shots on each goal.
Ten minutes in, Alan Quine passed the puck across the blue line and it was picked up by Okposo near the boards. Tavares headed in to the area at speed, and received a pass from Okposo. Tavares took a shot from just out of the faceoff circle, which was blocked by Luongo. Tavares picked the puck back up, went on a tight loop behind the goal, and managed to sneak it in past the post before Luongo made it back across the goal.
This goal knocked the Panthers out of the competition, and advanced the New York Islanders to the second stage, for the first time in twenty three years.
The Islanders will be heading back to Florida, as their pairing in the second round will be Tampa Bay Lightning.
You must be logged in to post a comment.