When the Islanders and Florida Panthers finally get going on Saturday afternoon it will be just the second time in either franchises’ history that they’ll face one another in the postseason. However, that doesn’t mean that there haven’t been some memorable moments between the two clubs.
Every Islanders fan remembers the Game 6 victory that propelled the Islanders to their first playoff series win in 23 years. Yet there are plenty of other moments involving both teams that are worth noting. Before they make more memories beginning on Saturday, let’s look back at a few of those standout moments between the Islanders and Florida Panthers.
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Feb 15, 1997: Islanders Defeat Panthers in OT on Silver Aniversary Night
It was a star-studded night at the Nassau Coliseum as Islander royalty graced the ice during a pregame ceremony to announce the Islanders all-time team. It was the culmination of a season-long celebration in honor of the organization’s 25th anniversary.
Long-time radio voice of the Islanders Barry Landers MCed the event, with Al Arbour and Bill Torrey on hand as well.
The Islanders and Panthers played 60-minutes of scoreless hockey before Claude Lapointe capped off the entertaining night with an overtime winner 2:46 into the extra period. It was one of 29 wins the Islanders would pick up during the 1996-97 season moved their record to 19-28-10 at that point in the year.
The Isles would go on to drop four of their next five games, but picking up a win in dramatic fashion on a night they honored some of the franchise’s greatest players is worth a mention here.
April 9, 2000: Roberto Luongo Records Final Win as an Islander Against the Panthers
File this under, you couldn’t make it up if you tried to.
Roberto Luongo started the 1999-00 season in Lowell with the Islanders minor league affiliate, but found himself called up to the NHL on Nov. 22, 1999. He made his NHL debut six days later in a 2-1 win over the Boston Bruins.
Luongo would go on to make 24 appearances in an Islanders uniform during his first NHL season and started the Islanders final game of the year against the Florida Panthers. Luongo made 29 saves as he helped backstop the Islanders to a 3-2 victory on Long Island.
What’s the significance you ask? Well, a few months later then-general manager Mike Millbury would make the drastic move to trade Luongo and Olli Jokinen to Florida for Mark Parrish and Oleg Kvasha at the 2000 NHL Draft. Millbury was hedging his bets that No. 1 overall pick Rick DiPietro was going to be the team’s goaltender of the future.
Not sure how many people at that April 9 game would have envisioned the chaos that would ensue nearly three months later.
March 2, 2008: Craig Anderson Spoils the Core of Four Celebration
It was a jubilant night as the Islanders took a walk down memory lane to honor the 17 players who helped lead the franchise to four consecutive Stanley Cup championships from 1980 to 1983. Bill Torrey, Al Arbour and the Stanley Cup were all on hand for the pregame festivities.
However, it was Craig Anderson who took center stage once the puck dropped that night. The then-Florida netminder made 53 saves to shutout Islanders in a 1-0 Panthers victory. David Booth’s goal 9:57 into the first period served as the game-winner, while Anderson stood on his head for a full 60 minutes, which included a second period where the Isles peppered him with 29 shots.
“The second period, we didn’t move the puck around well,” Jacques Martin said of Anderson’s performance at the time. “Andy gave us a big game.”
The 29 shots in the second period was a franchise-high at the time, which made the loss even more frustrating for the Islanders.
March 14, 2016: Islanders Rally From Two Goals Down in Third to Win 3-2
Up until the third period, the Islanders had been playing one of their worst games of the season and it couldn’t have come at a worse time.
Locked in a heated battle for playoff positioning, the New York Islanders found themselves down 2-0 heading into the third period against the Florida Panthers with just 11 shots on net. To put it simply, things were not going well.
The team came out with more jump in the third and then finally hit paydirt after Quinton Howden turned the puck over in the offensive zone. It led to Kyle Okposo beating Roberto Luongo with a wrist shot from the slot with 7:10 left in the game.
Just over two minutes later Josh Bailey tied the game after burying a tap-in goal from the side of the net. It sent Barclays Center into a frenzy, which only intensified when Cal Clutterbuck’s backhander with 1:39 left snuck past Luongo for the game-winner.
The win was crucial for the Islanders, who were holding onto third place in the Metropolitan Division at the time and had another critical matchup coming up with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
April 24, 2016: Islanders Clinch First Series Victory Since 1993
John Tavares may be persona non grata among Islanders fans now, but there was no one more fitting to lift them to their first series victory in 23 years than No. 91. Tavares had been one of the X factors in the Islanders first-round matchup against Florida, along with Thomas Greiss.
Greiss played outstanding as well, holding Florida to just one goal and allowing for Tavares’ late-game heroics. Any Islanders fans worth their salt remembers what happened next.
Tavares comes flying off the bench with 53.2 seconds left in the game and taps home the puck that was just sitting next to Roberto Luongo to tie the game at 1. Then with another herculean effort, Tavares picks up his own rebound and buries the wraparound shot to win the game 10:41 into the second overtime.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZAPY1xyeVc
