Anthony Beauvillier opened and closed a flurry of five unanswered goals Friday night for the host New York Islanders, who rolled to a 5-1 win over the Florida Panthers in Elmont, N.Y.
The first goal for Beauvillier was the 100th of his career.
Ryan Pulock scored the game-winner in the waning seconds of the middle period for the Islanders, who won for the fourth time in 12 games (4-6-2). Aatu Raty, making his NHL debut, collected a milestone goal in the third before Zach Parise and Beauvillier added insurance scores.
Goalie Ilya Sorokin made 22 saves.
Matthew Tkachuk scored in the first for the Panthers, who have lost three straight, all by multiple goals, and have lost 10 of 15 (5-8-2) since Thanksgiving. Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky recorded 38 saves.
Tkachuk gave the Panthers the lead 8:09 into the first, when he flicked a rebound of a shot by Brandon Montour over Sorokin’s left pads.
Beauvillier took advantage of a rebound 5:20 into the second to become the 32nd player in Islanders history to score 100 goals. After Brock Nelson won a faceoff with Eric Staal, the puck bounced to Noah Dobson, whose shot was blocked by Marc Staal. Beauvillier collected the rebound and beat Bobrovsky.
Another faceoff win by the Islanders led to Pulock’s go-ahead goal with 44.1 seconds left. After Jean-Gabriel Pageau outlasted Eric Staal, Pulock collected the puck, shuffled towards the faceoff circle, and sent a shot off the far post past Bobrovsky, who had Parise battling with Josh Mahura in front of him.
Beauvillier’s clearing pass off the back boards led to Ratu’s goal 7:10 into the third. Anders Lee outraced Gustav Forsling to the puck and passed to Ratu, who deked Nick Cousins and fired a shot beyond Bobrovsky’s stick arm.
Parise extended the lead just 71 seconds later, when he went from the forehand to the backhand and beat Bobrovsky as he descended into the crease. Beauvillier added an empty-netter with 4:10 remaining.
–Field Level Media