The eighth game for the Islanders against the Florida Panthers on Saturday, October 26 is a home game for them in Elmont, on Long Island. This game is another difficult game for the New York Islanders. The Florida Panthers are defending Stanley Cup champions and in first place in the Atlantic Division. This is the back half of a back-to-back set of two games, and the Islanders were poor at back-to-back games last year.
The Islanders need to find scoring now to compensate for the loss of Anthony DuClair. The Islanders will need to play their best, or they could lose this game because the Panthers are that good. That said, they are coming off an emotional overtime win in New Jersey.
Watch Out: This Is a Difficult Game
The Islanders need to be careful or they could lose this game. The Florida Panthers are playing well this season and their Head Coach, Paul Maurice, just signed a new contract. The Panthers are currently in first place in the Atlantic Division and are the defending Stanley Cup champions. One nice thing about that championship is that the Panthers traded for long-time Islander Kyle Okposo near the end of the season. Okposo got to win the Stanley Cup and then retired. That is a good way to go out.
Florida Panthers Is Game 8 For 2024-25 Islanders
Florida is 5-3-1 and in first place in the Atlantic Division. They are coming off a 3-1 win against the New York Rangers, in a battle of first-place teams. That was a good win. That game was on October 24, so the Panthers are likely to be at full strength. After a slow start, the Florida Panthers are playing better.
The Florida Panthers lead Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky has four wins in seven games this season. He just got the 400th win of his career in 707 regular season games. 400 career wins is good for fourteenth place all-time. He is truly one of the best of all time. Bobrovsky has struggled a bit this year with a 3.11 Goals Against Average and a .886 save percentage.
The Islanders
The Islanders need to carefully watch this entire roster. In particular, they need to watch Panthers star, Sam Reinhardt, who has 13 points so far this season. A tight defensive game against the Florida Panthers is what the Islanders need. They have yet another opportunity in front of them after getting two points in New Jersey.
Here Is The Panthers Roster
The Florida Panthers deep line combinations are as follows. On the first line for Florida are Eetu Luostarinen, Anton Lundell, and Sam Reinhardt. On the second line, the Panthers have Carter Verhauge, Sam Bennett, and Matthew Tkachuk. On the third line, Florida plays Evan Rodrigues, Jesper Boqvist, and Mackie Samoskevich. Rodrigues came over from the Buffalo Sabres, where he starred. On the fourth line, the Panthers have A.J. Greer, Patrick Giles, and Uvis Balinskis.
The defensive pairings for Florida are Gustav Forsling and Aaron Ekblad. Ekblad may be the best defenseman in the National Hockey League. Niko Mikkola and Dmitry Kulikov form the second defensive pairing for the Panthers. The third defensive pairing is Nate Schmidt and Adam Boqvist. In goal, Florida has the aforementioned Sergei Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight. Either could play, but with an off day, Bobrovsky is a safe bet.
Conclusion
The game against the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida will be difficult at home and the Islanders would do well to earn a point. It would be great if they could keep their momentum going and get another win. It is the dangerous second game of a back-to-back. The next game is against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Then they take on an emotionally charged Columbus Blue Jacket team. Finally, they play at the Buffalo Sabres on November 1.
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