John Tavares’ determined solo effort to grab his own rebound, circle the net and sweep it home with 9:19 left in the second overtime Sunday night gave the Islanders a 2-1 win over the Florida Panthers and a 4-2 first-round series victory, the first playoff series win for the franchise since 1993.
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The first fruitless overtime was a dominating Islanders performance, with Luongo making the best of his 15 overtime saves on Alan Quine, the Game 5 double-OT hero who raced in alone with just under three minutes left.
Although the nullified goal provided the initial spark, the Islanders’ power play ultimately made the big difference.
On an Islanders rush, Kyle Okposo got the puck on the left side, but his wrist shot was turned aside by Luongo near the 6-minute mark. That means there will probably be some exhausted legs when the two teams take the ice tonight, but being in front of their home crowd should give the Islanders that little extra amount of motivation that a team needs to get the job done. “It’s at the puck, it’s around the puck, it’s one on one and it’s very demanding”.
The Florida Panthers entered Game 6 knowing that they must win the game as they were down three games to two to the New York Islanders.
Thomas Greiss finished with 41 saves in the teams’ second straight two-overtime game and third in the series to go past regulation. Tavares was a Hart Trophy finalist last season, and with any justice will be one again this season.
Vladimir Tarasenko, Alex Pietrangelo and Scottie Upshall scored for St. Louis, which lost in the first round of the playoffs in each of the last three seasons. He is the Islanders’ best player and captain.
Yes, their long postseason drought is finally over.
Hail to the new king, baby.
After serving a double-minor for a high sticking he did not commit, Backstrom joined the play in progress, and scored the lone goal of the game.
Tavares tied it with just under 54 seconds left in the third period after NY defenseman Nick Leddy took the puck behind his own empty net, skated all the way down the right side and sent a centering pass from behind the Panthers’ goal.
The puck clipped Leddy and zipped past Greiss, however, and the Panthers had the lead, one they would hold until the final minute of regulation. While Roberto Luongo stopped many attempts, the Islanders simply outplayed the Panthers in the extra minutes. If anything, the Isles should be ready to jump out of the building, given the fact that it will be Barclays Center’s first playoff game and the fan base’s penchant for traditionally being among the loudest and most raucous fans in the sport during the postseason. The Islanders beat the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins – with the latter series concluding May 14, 1993 – that spring to emerge from the Patrick Division before falling to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens in the Wales Conference finals.
The second overtime saw more of a sustained push from the Panthers, but Greiss (41 saves) answered them all until Tavares was able to put it away.
New York Islanders center John Tavares (91) tries to get the puck from Florida Panthers defenseman Michael Matheson (56) in the second period of Game 6 of an NHL hockey first-round Stanley Cup playoff series in New York, Sunda…
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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports.
