Colby Guy
It has been a while since Carter Verhaeghe scored for the Panthers, but his goal Tuesday helped Florida snap a drought of its own in a 6-1 win over the Islanders.
Verhaeghe’s first period goal was his first in 12 games, dating back to one on Oct. 21 when Florida beat Colorado.
It helped the Panthers snap a four-game slide as well.
“Yeah, it’s been a while,” Verhaeghe said. “Our line has been playing well and we’re just making plays out there. It’s been a while for me, but other people are scoring and other people are contributing, but it’s been good.”
When Verhaeghe found a loose puck shot by Brandon Montour off of a 2-on-1 hanging behind Sorokin, he had to take the opportunity to stuff it in.
“Don’t miss the net,” Verhaeghe said when asked about his thought process as the puck was sitting there alone in the crease.
“Had a couple of those where I missed, so I was just trying to be hard on the puck. [Sam Bennett] made a good play and [Montour’ made a good play, so I was just trying to put it back there.”
Coach Andrew Brunette said he didn’t notice Verhaeghe’s scoring slump, however. He noticed his ability to make plays and contribute in other ways over those 12 games.
“I didn’t even know that he had that long of a goal drought,” Brunette said. “He is always around the net and I’m sure it felt good for him. I liked his game all year but it was nice to see him get rewarded tonight.”
The Panthers started their scoring when Anthony Duclair set up Jonathan Huberdeau with a beautiful pass while falling toward the boards to put the Cats up 1-0 just 6:58 into the first period.
Ryan Lomberg then put them up 2-0 with his first goal of the season with 5:20 to go, collecting a rebound from the doorstep and putting it past Ilya Sorokin for the goal.
“I love watching Lomberg score,” Brunette said. “It makes my day. And that line, really the last two games, played exceptional for us.”
After Verhaeghe’s goal with 3:56 to go, Patric Hornqvist struck 2:09 later with a wide-angle shot that went in off the crossbar to put the Cats up 4-0. Sorokin would leave the game after the first period.
After taking a knee-to-knee hit from Scott Mayfield 1:47 into the second period, Sasha Barkov left the game and didn’t return.
Mayfield received a game misconduct and a five-minute major, which the Panthers didn’t score on.
With just over six minutes to go in the second period, Aaron Ekblad struck with a slapshot past Semyon Varlamov to put the Panthers up 5-0.
Kyle Palmieri scored the lone Islanders goal 1:19 later.
Frank Vatrano got the lone score of the third period, burying one top-shelf on Varlamov to put the Panthers up 6-1 with 3:24 remaining.
Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 27 of the 28 shots he faced, finishing with a .964 save percentage.
Going into Wednesday, Bobrovsky shared a league lead in save percentage with James Reimer — who was traded to Carolina in a salary buy-out dump the day before Florida signed Bobrovsky — at .940.
“He’s been unbelievable,” Verhaeghe said of Bobrovsky. “He keeps us in every game and makes key saves at the right time. I think we played a little tighter tonight and we kind of try to do it for Bob, he deserves it.
“He’s been one of the best goalies in the league, so it’s awesome.”
The Panthers continued their struggles on the power play, going 0-for-4 after not scoring during their four-game road trip.
However, all three of those power plays came without Barkov.
The Panthers ended a skid of their own with the victory, snapping a four-game losing streak that spanned throughout the 0-2-2 road trip.
Florida will continue its four-game homestand on Thursday night as it plays host to the New Jersey Devils.
The Panthers will be looking for revenge after taking a 7-3 loss on Nov. 9.