Panthers Head To Brooklyn For Game 3 Vs Islanders
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BROOKLYN, N.Y. (SportsDirect Inc.) -- Postseason hockey will be on display for the first time at Barclays Center as the New York Islanders look to get the upper hand in the first-round series on Sunday when they host the Florida Panthers in Game 3.
The Islanders split a pair of encounters with Atlantic Division-champion Florida in Brooklyn this season en route to posting a 25-11-5 mark at their new home.
"We know what kind of environment our fans can create and we're counting on them and we want to feed off them," said New York captain John Tavares, who has scored a goal in six straight contests and has two tallies and two assists in the first two contests of this series.
Tavares ended Roberto Luongo's shutout bid late in the third period of Friday's 3-1 setback, with the veteran goaltender recording 41 saves to snap a personal seven-game losing skid in the postseason.
Reilly Smith continued his stellar series by joining Nick Bjugstad and defenseman Dmitry Kulikov with a goal and an assist in Game 2.
"It seems like the puck is following me around a little bit," Smith told the Miami Herald of the five points he's record in the series, matching the sum total of his previous 12 playoff games.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBCSN, SN, TVAS2, FSN Florida, MSG-Plus (New York)
ABOUT THE PANTHERS: Veteran Jaromir Jagr may have lost a tooth during Game 2, but he was unable to gain a goal as Florida's leading scorer has gone 33 consecutive postseason games without a tally. "Maybe it will bring me luck," Jagr told the Miami Herald of the lost tooth as he's looking for his first playoff goal since scoring in Game 2 of Philadelphia's first-round series against Pittsburgh in 2012. Linemates Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau have yet to score in the series, but the former has a team high-tying 10 shots on goal while the latter has nine.
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS: Defenseman Nick Leddy saw plenty of positives in his team despite the outcome of Friday's contest, his assist on Tavares' tally notwithstanding. "Our breakouts were good and we turned it on them (on Friday)," Leddy told Newsday. "We got pucks in deep, we worked their (defense). We're doing the things we did at the end of the regular season, playing how we need to play." Coach Jack Capuano had a harsher assessment of the game, going so far as to say that the team left Thomas Greiss "out to dry" on Florida's first two tallies.
OVERTIME
1. Florida C Vincent Trocheck (foot) skated on Saturday and could be in line to return for Game 4 on Wednesday, coach Gerard Gallant told reporters.
2. The Islanders are 1-for-5 on the power play in the series while the Panthers have converted on just one of their four chances with the man advantage.
3. Florida recalled Logan Shaw from Portland of the American Hockey League on Saturday and sent fellow F Rocco Grimaldi to the Pirates.
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