Roberto Luongo made 41 saves for his first playoff win in five years, and the Panthers evened their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series by beating the Islanders 3-1 on Friday night.
Reilly Smith and Nick Bjugstad each had a goal and an assist for Florida, which salvaged a split in the series-opening back-to-back. Dmitry Kulikov added an empty-netter with 9.3 seconds left to clinch the win.
John Tavares scored with 3:33 left for New York, and Thomas Greiss stopped 28 shots for the Islanders.
It was Luongo's first playoff win since Game 5 of the 2011 Stanley Cup finals, snapping a streak of seven consecutive lost postseason starts. And he was victimized by Florida defensive breakdowns in Game 1 on Thursday, a big part of why he yielded five goals on 26 New York shots.
What a difference a day made.
And after 456 appearances for Florida, Luongo finally has a postseason win for the team. Some of his saves were spectacular, like when he denied the Islanders' Ryan Strome from point-blank range in the slot midway through the second period, and another when he managed to deflect a shot off the stick of Cal Clutterbuck — who was getting hauled down by Florida's Alex Petrovic early in the third.
Petrovic was sent to the box and Luongo stopped three more shots on the ensuing power play, including a pair from Tavares — who had a three-point night in Game 1.
Local
Luongo got all the scoring help he needed early.
Smith scored at 4:32 of the first, getting his third goal of the series, and Bjugstad's first career playoff goal came early in the second period when he one-timed a pass from Smith past Greiss for a 2-0 lead.
The Panthers wasted three one-goal leads in Game 1. Nothing slipped away in Game 2.
NOTES: Luongo is now the fourth goaltender in Florida history to win a playoff game for the Panthers, joining John Vanbiesbrouck (13), Jose Theodore (two) and Scott Clemmensen (one). ... Panthers F Jaromir Jagr hasn't scored a goal in any of his last 33 playoff games, a somewhat surprising stat given how prolific he is even at 44. ... The Panthers improved to 12-4-2 this season in home games that followed a home loss. ... Kyle Okposo, who had the go-ahead goal for the Islanders in Game 1, turns 28 on Saturday. ... Greiss fell to 2-2-1 all-time against Florida. ... Attendance rose from Game 1 to Game 2, Friday's matchup drawing 18,373 — but not a sellout.
