Panthers Wrap Up Homestand Against Streaking Islanders
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SUNRISE (CBSMiami/AP) – The Florida Panthers will be facing a team that has been winning games with a similar formula to what they've been using in Sunrise this season.
A commitment to defense has keyed the New York Islanders' impressive winning streak.
In position to shut out three straight opponents for the second time in team history, the visiting Islanders try for a fifth straight victory Friday night against the Florida Panthers.
New York (10-5-0) owns a 12-3 scoring advantage over the last four games and has gone 181 minutes, 11 seconds without yielding a goal. The Islanders have allowed fewer than 30 shots in three straight games, and 39 while blanking Arizona and Colorado in the last two.
"When we do the right things defensively, we give ourselves a chance," coach Jack Capuano said after Tuesday's 6-0 rout of the Avalanche. "We have to sustain success shift-by-shift and period-by-period.
"We're a humble team, we've had some success, but we have to be able to sustain that. It's about habits and we've created those habits, but we have to maintain those habits."
New York went a team-record 199:24 without giving up a goal in 1998, a stretch that included three consecutive shutouts from April 1-6.
The beneficiary of the Islanders' current defensive dominance, Jaroslav Halak has never recorded three straight shutouts. He faced 19 shots while with St. Louis in a 7-0 victory Oct. 5 of last season, his most recent start against Florida (5-4-4).
A winner in four in a row against the Panthers, Halak has posted an 0.84 goals-against average while winning five of his last six meetings.
The defensemen in front of Halak also continued to contribute offensively Tuesday, scoring two of their 10 goals. New York defenseman had 23 goals last season.
"(Tuesday) was probably our most complete game this season," said defenseman Travis Hamonic, who scored his second after recording no more than three goals in each of the previous three seasons.
"Now we have to work on playing even better."
The Islanders had a season-high 46 shots against the Avalanche.
Though Florida ranks near the bottom of the league with 24 goals, it's recorded four in each of the last two contests. Four Panthers scored as they snapped an 0-2-1 slide with their most decisive victory of the season, 4-1 over San Jose on Tuesday.
"I thought all the guys competed. I don't think there was one passenger," coach Gerard Gallant said. "We want to play a good 60 minutes. When we play like that we have a chance to beat a lot of good teams."
Florida had allowed 10 goals in its previous two games but held the Sharks to 26 shots - six in the first period.
"As a team, we weren't pleased with our last couple games," said goaltender Roberto Luongo, who has won three straight at home. "I'm really happy the way we responded. It was a character win for our boys."
Luongo has posted a 1.00 goals-against average while going 3-1-0 in Sunrise since getting pulled from a 5-1 home-opening loss to New Jersey on Oct. 11.
He's recorded a 2.57 GAA during a three-game winning streak against the Islanders that came while with Vancouver.
Hamonic scored in a 4-2 home victory April 1 to help New York avoid a three-game sweep in the season series with Florida.
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