In Sunrise, the Florida Panthers made quick work of their match with the New York Islanders on Tuesday night. 
The Panthers scored four times in the first period and coasted to a 6-1 win over the Isles.
“The first period was really good,” the Panthers’ Carter Verhaeghe said. “We were making plays and shooting pucks. We wanted to get off to a good start, and we were able to do that.”
The win moved Florida to 11-2-3.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 27 saves in the victory.
Kyle Palmieri scored the lone goal for New York.
“It’s turned into a nightmare the last little while there,” New York head coach Barry Trotz said. “We’re looking forward to getting back. We’ll open that arena, hopefully it’ll give us some new energy, a new focus, whatever it is.”
The Islanders dropped to 5-6-2.
“There’s no time to feel sorry for ourselves,” Palmieri said. “Nobody’s going to give us an easy out. It’s going to be us playing and clawing our way back.”
The first period onslaught included goals from Jonathan Huberdeau, Ryan Lomberg, Carter Verhaeghe, and Patrik Hornqvist.
“Our team is so tight and I mean, we just have so many good players on the team. So much depth,” Verhaeghe said. “Whoever you’re playing with, I mean, you’re playing with a great player, and sometimes we switch [the lines] up and things happen like tonight.”
Florida scored once in the middle frame off a goal from
“We wanted to dictate right from the start,” Florida head coach Andrew Brunette said. “We knew that was a desperate team coming to the end of a 13-game road trip. I thought we took control of the game and played with pace.”
Aaron Ekblad made it 5-0 at 13:41 of the second period with a slap shot from the right circle.
The Islanders head home for the first time this season. They lost the last four games of their 13-game roadie.
“We’re definitely upset with our play, there’s no doubt about it,” the Islanders’ Casey Cizikas said. “We take a lot of pride in who we are and how we play. It’s not easy, but we’ll be upset about this tonight, get home and get the body ready, and be ready for that home opener now.”
Frank Vatrano added a strike in the third period for the 6-1 final.
Ilya Sorokin made 13 saves in the opening period, he got the hook in the first intermission.
Semyon Varlamov, who made 17 saves through the final 40 minutes of the game.
Florida’s
were able to do that.”
Aleksander Barkov left the game in the second period with a n apparent injury.
“Obviously, a tough guy to see go down,” Hornqvist said. “He’s our leader and our best player. We need him to go where we want to be. I hope he’s all right.”
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