Florida Panthers Wake Up, Swamp New York Islanders

The Florida Panthers found themselves in a hole to the New York Islanders early Saturday night.

It was not too deep, however.

The Panthers roared back from a 3-goal deficit Saturday, scoring the next six in a most-impressive 6-3 comeback win over the Islanders.

Tied 3-3 going into the third, Florida (6-3-1) got goals from Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk to secure its first three-goal comeback win since beating Dallas on March 12.

Gus Forsling ended it by flinging the puck into an empty net — on a 6-on-4 power play — from the opposite end of the ice.

Mackie Samoskevich, with a lot of friends and family in town for the game, picked up his first NHL goal to tie the score at 3 near the end of the third period on a fantastic coast-to-coast play he finished on a wraparound.

Florida, which has come out with its hair on fire against the Bruins, Golden Knights, and Rangers, took a more staid approach to Saturday’s game on Long Island.

New York scored the first goal 92 seconds in — then made it 2-0 at the 6-minute mark.

Down 3-0, Sam Reinhart got the Panthers going as he charged in all alone and beat Semyon Varlamov with 6:33 left in the first.

Tkachuk brought Florida within a goal at 6:38 before Samoskevich tied it.

Bennett’s goal — his seventh of the season — came when Tkachuk’s shot at the net hit him and got past Varlamov.

Spencer Knight, who assisted on Samoskevich’s goal, ended another strong start with 26 saves and improved to 2-1.

The Panthers have won two straight.

— With 14 points, Reinhart tied Jonathan Huberdeau (2021) for the most points in the first 10 games of a season in franchise history.

GOALS OF THE GAME

• Islanders 1, Panthers 0 (1:32 1st): Dennis Cholowski flies one from inside the blueline through traffic and it finds a way through.
• Islanders 2, Panthers 0 (6:00 1st): Kyle Palmieri knocks down a shot from Ryan Pulock and Spencer Knight makes the initial save. Only Palmieri pokes the rebound through.
• Islanders 3, Panthers 0 (11:41 1st): Brock Nelson camps out on the side of the goal cage and taps in a long rebound off the end boards.
• Islanders 3, Panthers 1 (13:27 1st): Sam Reinhart beats the Isles on a line change, walking in all alone and beating Semyon Varlamov gloveside.
• Islanders 3, Panthers 2 (6:38 2nd): Matthew Tkachuk knocks Varlamov’s stick away — then pounces on a rebound off a Carter Verhaeghe shot which clanged the post.
• Panthers 3, Islanders 3 (18:16 2nd): Mackie Samoskevich goes coast-to-coast with the puck, scoring his first NHL goal on a wraparound to tie it up. Knight gets the secondary assist on the goal.
• Panthers 4, Islanders 3 (6:19 3rd): Sam Bennett scored for the fourth straight game when Tkachuk’s shot from the corner bounced off him in front of the net.
• Panthers 5, Islanders 3 (9:49 3rd PP): Tkachuk gets his second of the night, whipping a shot from the top of the right circle on a power-play chance.
• Panthers 6, Islanders 3 (17:43 3rd SH-EN): Gus Forsling whips a shot the length of the ice to end this one.

GR’S 3 STARS OF THE GAME

• 1. Matthew Tkachuk, Florida
• 2. Mackie Samoskevich, Florida
• 3. Spencer Knight, Florida

ON DECK: GAME 11

FLORIDA PANTHERS AT BUFFALO SABRES

• When: Monday, 7 p.m.
• Where: KeyBank Center, Buffalo
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/Fort Lauderdale); WHDT 9 (West Palm); LAFF 36.3 (Naples/Fort Myers)
• Streaming: Panthers+; ESPN+
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• Last Season: Panthers Won 3-0
• This Season (Sabres Lead 1-0) — At Buffalo: Sabres 5, Panthers 2 (Oct. 12); Monday. At Florida: March 8; April 12.
• All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 57-46-8, 4 ties
• Up Next for the Panthers: Friday vs. Dallas Stars (at Tampere, Finland), 1 p.m. EDT