Panthers draw even with ‘one-line’ Isles

Surrender Home-Ice Edge after 2-1 Loss to Florida at Barclays Center

April 21, 2016 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Islanders coach Jack Capuano is imploring the rest of his squad to contribute offensively as New York suffered a brutal 2-1 defeat to Florida Wednesdaynight at Downtown’s Barclays Center. AP photo

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The New York Islanders’ 23-year drought without a playoff series win will doubtlessly continue on into the 2016-17 season, unless they find a way to get more production from any line not featuring John Tavares, Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen.

“We have one line creating all our offense right now,” New York head coach Jack Capuano lamented Wednesday night after the Islanders’ 2-1 defeat to the Panthers in front of 15,795 fans at Downtown’s Barclays Center sent them back to Sunrise, Florida for Friday’s Game 5 with the series deadlocked at two games apiece.

“We have to find a way, like we did in Florida, when we had secondary scoring, and the other night here when we had secondary scoring,” added Capuano, whose frustration was echoed throughout the Islanders’ locker room following what can best be described as a flat performance from his squad on a night when it had the opportunity to take this best-of-seven opening-round series by the throat.

Despite managing just five shots in a sluggish opening period, the Islanders appeared poised to eke out their third one-goal win of the series when Tavares forged a 1-1 tie with 16 seconds remaining in the second period on a power-play goal, his third tally of the series.

But Florida, engaging the Isles in a tight-checking game in which they rotated seven defenseman, snapped the deadlock when Alex Petrovic netted the go-ahead score midway through the third period.

Jaromir Jagr, who had been held completely off the scoresheet in the series’ first three games, got his 200th career playoff point with an assist on the game’s opening score just over 15 minutes into the second stanza, setting up Teddy Purcell on the power play after twice being stopped in front by Thomas Greiss.

Game 4 was eerily reminiscent of Game 2 in Florida, when the Isles, holding a 1-0 series advantage, managed only one goal, also by Tavares, in a 3-1 defeat that sent the series back to Brooklyn even at 1-1.

Tavares, Okposo and Nielsen have combined for 15 playoff points (six goals and nine assists) thus far, but the remainder of the roster has totaled 16, none of which were registered during the Isles’ two losses in the series.

“You are not going to win many games when you score one goal and the same guys score,” Capuano reiterated as New York failed for the 12th consecutive time to win back-to-back playoff games.

Greiss was again solid in net, stopping 27 of 29 shots, but the Isles continued to get precious little in the way of offense from their second and third and fourth lines.

“The games are so meaningful and certainly it was tight today,” said Tavares, who leads the Isles with seven points overall through four playoff games.

“I think that’s only going to develop as the series goes on,” he added. “There’s less room for error for both teams.”

Less room on the ice was New York’s problem in Game 4 as wave after wave of Florida defenders cut off room in front of the net, providing Panthers goalie Robert Luongo with the sight lines necessary to stop all but one of the Isles’ 27 shots.

“What we talked about was making it real tough to score goals against us,” Panthers coach Gerard Gallant revealed.

“Don’t give up second chances, don’t give the Tavares line second and third chances. It was about working hard and playing our game and I wanted to make sure our guys played aggressive.”

Ironically, it was the Isles’ second line that put New York in position to go up 3-1 as Josh Bailey’s feed from behind the net set up Thomas Hickey’s Game 3 overtime winner at Barclays on Sunday night.

That thrilling triumph, bolstered by the capacity crowd at the state-of-the-art arena, appeared to give New York the momentum necessary to finally push through and win its first playoff series since 1993.

But those hopes were quelled quickly by the Panthers in Game 4.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy series,” Isles forward Matt Martin admitted. “It’s a game we wanted to win, but they were just a little better than us tonight. We’ll regroup and get ready for a big one in Florida.”

The Panthers, who haven’t won a playoff series since advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals back in 1996, took back the home-ice advantage the Isles stole from them in the series opener.

“It was a huge character win for our club,” said Luongo. “We played the type of road game we wanted to play — simple, hard-nosed, checking away, and we found a way to win.”

The Isles will have to a find a way to nab their second win on the road in this series.

Otherwise, they will return to Brooklyn for Sunday’s Game 6 facing elimination, and the specter of another offseason filled with questions about their penchant for folding up and going home early when the games matter the most.

Isle Have Another: Jagr has not scored a goal in his last 35 playoff games. His 122 career playoff assists are ninth all-time in NHL history … Tavares has racked up 21 points (10 goals, 11 assists) in his last 14 games dating back to the regular season … Rookie defenseman Ryan Pulock, who had an assist on Tavares’ power-play goal Wednesday, left the game in the third period and did not return due to an undisclosed injury. Capuano indicated that Pulock’s status for Game 5 would be re-evaluated on Thursday.