NY Islanders fall 4-1 to Florida Panthers on Sunday to snap three game win streak

Carter Verhaeghe stayed red-hot with his sixth goal in as many games, and the Florida Panthers rode a steady offensive push to a 4–1 win over the New York Islanders on Sunday night, snapping the Isles’ three-game winning streak. It marked the Isles' first loss in the second half of a back-to-back this season (now 4–1-0).

Uvis Balinskis opened the scoring early with a point shot through heavy traffic, his first goal of the season and just the seventh of his NHL career. Verhaeghe doubled Florida’s lead in the second, burying a feed from Jeff Petry to record his 146th goal as a Panther and move into seventh on the franchise’s all-time list. Seth Jones made it 3–1 late in the third with his second goal in as many games, and Sam Reinhart sealed the win with an empty-net tally.

Mathew Barzal provided the lone Islanders goal, finishing off a slick setup from No. 1 pick Matthew Schaefer, who now has 21 points through 30 games in his impressive rookie season. Despite Barzal scoring—New York had been 7–1–0 this season when he found the back of the net—the Islanders couldn’t generate enough offense to keep up. David Rittich made 26 saves in the loss, while Daniil Tarasov stopped 20 for Florida.

The defeat highlighted a lingering issue: New York is now 3–10–0 when scoring two goals or fewer.

Head coach Patrick Roy acknowledged the toll of a grueling week that included two games against Tampa Bay, a matchup with powerhouse Colorado, and this back-to-back in Florida.

“I feel like we could have been a little more connected,” Roy said. “Overall, that was a tough schedule. We played Tampa twice, played Colorado, back-to-back games here. Three out of four, that’s pretty good. We gave ourselves a chance to get back in this game.”

The Islanders return home looking to reset after a demanding stretch—and rediscover the scoring touch that fueled their previous three-game surge.