Game Preview: Islanders at Panthers

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (5-5-2) AT FLORIDA PANTHERS (10-2-3)
7 PM | FLA LIVE ARENA
WATCH: ESPN+ | HULU
LISTEN: 1050 AM | 88.7FM | 103.9FM
The end of the road.
Over one month after the New York Islanders set out on the road, the franchise-record, 13-game trip comes to a close, as the Isles take on the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night.
The Islanders, who started the season on Oct. 14 in Carolina and have played in every time zone in North America since, are 5-5-2 through the first 12 games of the trip. A win would put the Islanders over NHL .500 for the trip, while a point would guarantee a .500 trip - not bad considering the trip's length.

The Islanders are looking to end the trip on a winning note, especially as the team has lost three-straight games in regulation, including a 4-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday. As tempting as it could be to look ahead to Saturday's home opener at UBS Arena, the Islanders are focused on snapping their skid.
"We have to focus on the task at hand here," Matt Martin said after Monday's loss. "The game against Florida just got that much more important for us. The trip isn't done, we have to keep our focus and energy and emotions in check and find a way to win a hockey game tomorrow. Then we can be excited to play in front of our fans."
The Islanders have scored three total goals in their last three games and have allowed four-or-more in each contest. They've been outscored 12-1 in their last seven periods.
"We're working for those chances and they're just not going in right now. It's one of those stretches that can lead to some frustration. Right now we just have to find a way to stick together, stick to it and eliminate some of the mistakes on the other end. When things aren't going in easily, we have to be that much better on the other side of it."
Tuesday marks the second Islanders-Panthers game this season. Florida beat the Islanders 5-1 on Oct. 16.

EXCLUSIVELY ON ESPN+/HULU

Through the NHL's new media rights agreement, ESPN+ and Hulu will exclusively carry 75 games on streaming platforms this season. The New York Islanders will participate in six of those games, beginning with Tuesday's contest against the Florida Panthers.
An ESPN+ subscription costs $6.99 per month
. Fans located in the United States will have access to exclusively streamed games without being subject to blackouts. Along with the Islanders' six broadcasts, ESPN+ subscribers will also have access to more than 1,000 out-of-market NHL games. ESPN account holders can stream from anywhere, including on TVs, tablets, laptops and phones.

ISLANDERS NOTES:

• Mathew Barzal scored the Islanders' lone goal on Monday night before the Lightning responded with four unanswered tallies. Barzal now has four goals this season and his eight points are second only to Brock Nelson's nine.
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  - Casey Cizikas missed Monday's game as the center is dealing with a non-COVID-related illness. Kieffer Bellows drew into the lineup, but Cizikas' absence sent a ripple effect through Barry Trotz's lines. Cal Clutterbuck took line rushes at center with Martin and Oliver Wahlstrom, though JG Pageau took plenty of draws between Martin and Clutterbuck. Zach Parise played with Barzal and Anders Lee, while Josh Bailey skated with Pageau and Bellows.
  - Sebastian Aho made his season debut on Monday, as Noah Dobson was a healthy scratch. Trotz said he wanted to see if Aho could help spark the Islanders struggling power play. Aho played a team-high 23:21, largely on a pairing with Andy Greene.
  - Ilya Sorokin is the likely starter for the Islanders on Tuesday night, as Semyon Varlamov played in Monday's loss to Tampa. Sorokin is 5-3-2 in his sophomore season, with a 2.18 GAA, a .933 SV% and three shutouts. Sorokin allowed five goals on 29 shots in the Islanders previous game against the Panthers on Oct. 16.
  - The Islanders power play went 0-for-3 on Monday night, generating two shots on goal. The Islanders power play is now 0-for-11 in the team's last five games.
  "It's been a point of emphasis, we've been working at it and talking about it, but like Anders said, we just have to stick with it and stick together," Josh Bailey said of the power play. "You're going to go through stretches like this during the course of the season and we just really have to hang in there as a group and I have faith that we will."
  - Tuesday completes the Islanders third back-to-back this season. The Isles are 2-1-0 in the front end and 1-1-0 in the back end. Per Eric Hornick: the Isles are 22-5-4 (.774) in back-ends under Trotz. This is by far the best record of any NHL team in back-ends during this stretch. Tampa Bay has the next best record: 21-9-3 (.682).

PANTHERS NOTES:

• The Panthers are currently first in the NHL with 23 points and second in goals-per-game at 3.73.
  - After a 10-0-1 start, the Panthers are 0-2-2 in their last four games. Most recently, Florida fell 3-2 in overtime to the Lightning on Saturday night.
  - Aleksander Barkov leads the Panthers in goals (9) and points (16). The Panthers' captain is also riding a nine-game point streak, with 11 points (7G, 4A) over that span. Jonathen Huberdeau reportedly rejoined Barkov on Florida's top line,
  per the team's official site
  . Per the Panthers:
  The top-two scorers in franchise history, that superstar duo spent 1,541:01 of ice time together at 5-on-5 from 2018-2021, according to NaturalStatTrick.com. When they were deployed in that stretch, the Panthers owned advantages in both shot attempts (1,494-1,365) and goals (92-73).
  - Sergei Bobrovsky is 6-0-2 in nine starts with a 1.88 GAA and a .940 SV%. Bobrovsky stopped 29-of-30 shots in the Islanders and Panthers first meeting of the season and will start on Tuesday.
  - Andrew Brunette is currently serving as Interim Head Coach of the Panthers. The Panthers are 3-2-3 under Brunette, who has been behind the bench since
  Joel Quenneville resigned as the Head Coach
  of the Florida Panthers on Oct. 28.