By: Nick Lanciani
The New York Islanders took home the win in Game 5 versus the Florida Panthers at BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida on Friday night in double overtime by a final score of 2-1.
Alan Quine scored the game winning goal at 16:00 of the second overtime period on the power play for the Islanders while Thomas Greiss made 47 saves on 48 shots faced for a .979 SV% in the win. Roberto Luongo made 40 stops on 42 shots against for a .952 SV% in the loss for the Panthers.
The win was the first win in a Game 5 in any series for the Islanders for the first time since 1987. The Islanders broke an 11 game losing streak in Game 5’s, with 10 out of the last 11 having been on the road. It was just the 2nd time that the Panthers and the Islanders needed at least one overtime to determine a winner in a game in this series.
Coming into Friday night, Florida center, Vincent Trocheck was a game time decision, but it was announced prior to warmups that Trocheck would make his return to the lineup in Game 5 for the first time since sustaining a foot injury on March 29th.
The first period began with an early high sticking penalty against Nick Bjugstad just 2:53 into the opening period. New York was unable to capitalize on their first power play opportunity of the night.
At 13:31 of the 1st period, Frans Nielsen sent one past Luongo with a wrist shot that resulted in his 3rd goal of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Nielsen’s goal put the Islanders up 1-0 and was assisted by Thomas Hickey (1).
Late in the period Jonathan Huberdeau put the Panthers on the penalty kill while receiving a minor penalty for hooking Casey Cizikas. Once again, though, New York was unable to convert on the man advantage (a theme that would remain true until their final power play of the night). After one the Islanders led the Panthers 1-0 and led in shots on goal (11-10), hits (13-7), takeaways (7-4) and blocked shots (8-2). Florida led in faceoff wins (10-9) after twenty minutes of play. Both teams had 5 giveaways each.
Other than swapping power play opportunities in the second period, the score remained unchanged through forty minutes of play. Florida failed to convert on their only power play of the night as John Tavares took the only penalty for New York at 17:28 of the 2nd period. Tavares was sent to the box for slashing, if you were wondering.
After two, the Islanders led on the scoreboard 1-0 and in every other department except for shots on goal, which the Panthers led 24-16.
Almost two minutes into the third period the Florida Panthers tied the game, 1-1, with a goal from Aleksander Barkov. The goal was Barkov’s 2nd of the series and was assisted by Alex Petrovic (3) and Jaromir Jagr (2).
New York used their coach’s challenge to see if the play entered the zone offsides, however after review, it was determined to be inconclusive by the ref, resulting in the loss of an Islanders timeout.
By the end of regulation, New York and Florida were tied 1-1 on the scoreboard and the Panthers were leading in shots on goal 30-24. New York led in just about everything else including hits (45-24), giveaways (14-10), takeaways (15-13) and blocked shots (16-6). Both teams were 26 and 26 on the faceoff dot at the end of sixty minutes of play.
In the first overtime, more NHL history was made.
At 7:19 of the first overtime period, Calvin de Haan covered the puck in the crease with his hand before promptly tossing it aside. This resulted in an automatic penalty shot to be rewarded to the Florida Panthers, as Aleksander Barkov was elected to shoot. Barkov became the third shooter in NHL history to be award a penalty shot in overtime in a Stanley Cup Playoff game. However, for all the effort Barkov put into his backhander, Greiss made the save and denied a game winning penalty shot goal and kept goalies a perfect 3-for-3 in OT penalty shot attempts in the playoffs.
Both teams continued to swap chances, but nobody could seem to find the back of the net with the superb goaltending from Greiss and Luongo in net.
Heading into double overtime, Florida had a 41-36 advantage in shots on goal and a 41-35 advantage in faceoff wins. New York, on the other hand, was leading in hits (58-28), giveaways (20-13), takeaways (17-14) and blocked shots (24-7).
The second overtime got underway and early into it Nick Bjugstad caught a rut in the ice and ended up going face first into the boards. Bloodied, Bjugstad made his way off the ice under his own power after spending some time slowly getting up and returning to his feet. No penalty was called on the play as replay showed that no Islander was responsible for the mishap.
The Islanders were unable to convert on their first power play of double overtime when Jaromir Jagr went to the box for tripping Tavares at 5:06 of the period, however they soon struck on their next man advantage that came about at 14:31 of the second overtime.
Derek MacKenzie was called for slashing Tavares and New York began a usual 5-on-4 power play. After a couple of great opportunities, Alan Quine found the back of the net with a slap shot from the slot that beat Luongo for the 2-1 victory. Marek Zidlicky and Thomas Hickey assisted on Quine’s first career Stanley Cup Playoff goal.
With the goal, Quine became the first Islanders rookie to score an OT playoff goal since Ken Morrow did just that on April 11, 1980.
The Panthers finished the night leading in shots on goal (48-42), faceoff wins (52-43) and takeaways (19-18), while New York ended the night leading in hits (65-34), giveaways (24-16) and blocked shots (27-14). The Islanders finished the night 1/5 on the power play while Florida ended the night 0/1 on the man advantage.
With the win on Friday night, the Islanders now lead the series 3-2 and have the chance to eliminate the Panthers on home ice at Barclays Center in Game 6 on Sunday. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM EST and can be seen in the United States on NBCSN.
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