Anthony Beauvillier scored two goals as the New York Islanders ended the Florida Panthers’ season for the second time in the last five years. They did so with a 5-1 win in game four of the play-in round on Friday afternoon.
Beauvillier’s pair of goals came 2:38 apart in the game’s first period. The first came just before the goal line on a spin-around backhand shot that bounced off Panthers’ goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky who was expecting a pass to the slot. The second was a one-timer pass which came from centreman Mathew Barzal.
After a hooking penalty by Jordan Eberle late in the first period, it would take just twelve seconds for the Panthers to make a dent as Mike Hoffman then scored on the power play.
With the teams headed into the second period, New York was awarded the power play at 7:47. Just fourteen seconds later, Brock Nelson shot one into the Toy Department for his second goal of the Stanley Cup Qualifiers.
In the third, Barzal made it 4-1 with a breakaway snipe, his third career postseason goal. Jean-Gabriel Pageau added an empty netter in the final three minutes. That would seal the deal as the Islanders advanced to round one of the playoffs.
Islanders Head Coach Barry Trotz said postgame, “You’re seeing the NHL at a great level right now. You didn’t know what you’d expect but the players have dialed it in, it shows in the quality of play not only in our series but every series you watch. We had only one goal: To be [the] better team and win a hockey game. There was no me. It was all we. Everybody was pulling on the rope. I had no passengers.”
The Empire State Building in New York City was lit up Friday night in orange and blue to celebrate the Islanders’ 3-1 series win.
With the win, Barry Trotz becomes the second head coach in franchise history to win multiple playoff rounds. Additionally, this is the first time since 1977-1985 that the New York Islanders have won a playoff series in consecutive seasons.
The Islanders remain the most successful franchise in the history of the National Hockey League in a best-of-five postseason series.