Panthers score four in first, defeat Islanders

SUNRISE, Fla. --The Florida Panthers scored four goals in the first period of a 6-1 win against the New York Islanders at FLA Live Arena on Tuesday.

Patric Hornqvist had a goal and an assist, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 27 saves for Florida (11-2-3), which was 0-2-2 in its past four games.
"The first period was really good," Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe said. "We were making plays and shooting pucks. We wanted to get off to a good start, and we were able to do that."
Aleksander Barkov left the game in the second period with a lower-body injury following a knee-on-knee collision with Scott Mayfield. Florida coach Andrew Brunette said Barkov, who was seen walking around after the game, would be reevaluated Wednesday.
"Obviously, a tough guy to see go down," Hornqvist said. "He's our leader and our best player. We need him to go where we want to be. I hope he's all right."

Kyle Palmieri scored for New York (5-6-2), which lost the final four games of its opening 13-game stretch away from home (outscored 19-4). Ilya Sorokin made 13 saves before being replaced at the start of the second period by Semyon Varlamov, who made 17 saves.
The Islanders will play the Calgary Flames in their first game at UBS Arena on Saturday.
"It's turned into a nightmare the last little while there," New York coach Barry Trotz said. "We're looking forward to getting back. We'll open that arena, hopefully it'll give us some new energy, a new focus, whatever it is."
Jonathan Huberdeau gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 6:58 of the first period with a one-timer off a cross-slot pass from Anthony Duclair.
"We wanted to dictate right from the start," Brunette said. "We knew that was a desperate team coming to the end of a 13-game road trip. I thought we took control of the game and played with pace."

Ryan Lomberg made it 2-0 at 14:40 before Verhaeghe extended the lead to 3-0 at 16:04 when he skated from behind the net to put home a loose puck in the crease.
It was Verhaeghe's first goal in 12 games.
"Our team is so tight and I mean, we just have so many good players on the team. So much depth," Verhaeghe said. "Whoever you're playing with, I mean, you're playing with a great player, and sometimes we switch [the lines] up and things happen like tonight."

Hornqvist pushed it to 4-0 at 18:13 of the first with a shot from a sharp angle that redirected in off Sorokin's mask. Aaron Ekblad then made it 5-0 at 13:41 of the second period with a slap shot from the right circle.
Palmieri scored his first of the season to make it 5-1 at 15:00.
"There's no time to feel sorry for ourselves," Palmieri said. "Nobody's going to give us an easy out. It's going to be us playing and clawing our way back."
Frank Vatrano scored on a 2-on-1 at 16:36 of the third period for the 6-1 final.
"We're definitely upset with our play, there's no doubt about it," Islanders center Casey Cizikas said. "We take a lot of pride in who we are and how we play. It's not easy, but we'll be upset about this tonight, get home and get the body ready, and be ready for that home opener now."
NOTES:Florida is 8-0-0 at home this season. … Prior to the game, the Islanders announced that defenseman Ryan Pulock would miss the game because of a lower-body injury and would be evaluated once the team returned to New York. They also announced that center Josh Bailey had entered COVID-19 protocol. … Florida's win was the 900th in its history. … Bobrovsky (7-0-2) is the second goalie in Panthers history to begin a season without a regulation loss through his first nine games, joining John Vanbiesbrouck (6-0-3 in 1996-97). … This is the first time that the Islanders have allowed at least four goals in four straight games since hiring Trotz prior to the 2018-19 season.