Panthers Look To Rebound After Game 1 Loss Vs Islanders
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SUNRISE (The Sports Xchange) -- The host Florida Panthers' first playoff game in four years might have gone to the home team if not for the first pick in the 2009 draft.
Center John Tavares was a force for the New York Islanders, producing two assists and one goal.
Tavares set up Kyle Okposo with the tie-breaking goal as the Islanders beat Florida 5-4 in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series on Thursday night at the BB&T Center.
"He was excellent tonight," Islanders center Frans Nielsen said of Tavares. "He's been great for us all year. He is an elite player in this league. He wears the (captain's) 'C' for a reason. He showed it tonight."
The Islanders rallied from three one-goal deficits, getting tying scores from Brock Nelson, Nielsen and Tavares. The fifth goal was scored by Ryan Strome, who pounced on a rebound with 13:59 left.
On the tie-breaking goal, Tavares stole the puck from Florida defenseman Brian Campbell and fed to Okposo.
"We have to clean some stuff up," Campbell said. "I made a mistake there. I just have to go hard off the boards. That's the frustrating part."
Tavares, who led the Islanders with 33 goals in the regular season, downplayed his role in the win. In fact, he said he expects more of his entire team.
"It wasn't our best game," he said. "But we found a way."
Reilly Smith scored twice for Florida. His second goal, which came with 13:04 left in the third period, closed New York's lead to 5-4.
Florida's other goals came from Teddy Purcell and Jussi Jokinen. But Florida right winger Jaromir Jagr, who has just one goal in his past 34 playoff games, did not get a point.
Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is set for Friday night at the BB&T Center. The Panthers are 8-4-2 this season in the second of back-to-back games. The Islanders are 9-3-3.
Islanders goalie Thomas Greiss, who made his first career playoff start, got the win with 42 saves. Veteran Roberto Luongo took the loss and now has a career playoff record of 32-32. He had 21 saves.
It took just 1:55 for Florida to score the game's first goal as Purcell, skating on the right wing, took a perfect cross-ice pass from Jiri Hudler and beat Greiss.
But New York tied the score less than five minutes later as Strome dug the puck out of the corner at center ice and fed Nelson, who skated alone on Luongo, beating him high.
With 6:09 left in the first period, Florida went ahead 2-1 on a power-play goal by Jokinen, who tipped in a shot from the point by Campbell.
New York tied it 2-2 less than three minutes later on a power-play goal by Nielsen. The Islanders, 0-for-7 vs. the Panthers this season on their power play, broke through thanks to a sensational juke move by Tavares, who fed Nielsen on the left side. Nielsen beat Luongo high to his stick side.
Florida needed just 95 seconds into the second period to take a 3-2 lead on Smith's rebound goal. Florida center Nick Bjugstad started the sequence by winning a faceoff, and assists went to Alex Petrovic and Jokinen.
But New York came back a third time, tying the score 3-3 with just 22 seconds left in the second period on Tavares' goal.
"Every bounce they had, they took advantage of," Campbell said. "We have to clean up the unforced errors."
The third period, however, tilted in New York's favor, and Greiss made some key saves in the final minutes.
"It was a fun atmosphere," said Greiss, who is 2-0 against Florida this season. "It's easier to play when you are excited. I just hung on and made the saves and did what I had to do."
NOTES: Islanders D Travis Harmonic (knee) returned after missing six games in a row. ... Panthers D Erik Gudbranson (lower body) returned after missing three games. ... Panthers C Vincent Trocheck (foot) is not skating yet but could return late in this series. ... South Florida is one of just five markets with an NBA and an NHL team in the playoffs, joining Detroit, Los Angeles, Dallas and Oakland/San Jose. ... The Islanders haven't won a playoff series since beating Jaromir Jagr's Pittsburgh Penguins in 1993. The Panthers haven't won a playoff series since beating Jagr's Penguins in the 1996 Eastern Conference Finals. Now Jagr, 44, is with the Panthers, and he led the team with 66 points in the regular season. ... Both teams are long-shots to win the Stanley Cup. Florida is listed at 20-1 and New York at 25-1.
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