Shorthanded Islanders show fight, but have seven-game winning streak snapped by Panthers

SUNRISE, Fla. — The news was not that the Islanders, with three defensemen and a top forward hurt, and a goalie making his NHL debut, had their season-high seven-game winning streak snapped. Rather, it was that they were tenacious enough to have hopes of extending it.

The Islanders concluded a three-game road trip with a 6-3 loss to the Stanley Cup champion Panthers on Sunday night at Amerant Bank Arena, clawing back from an early two-goal deficit with three straight goals to take a 3-2 lead in the second period.

With backup Marcus Hogberg joining the Islanders’ injured this week, the starting nod went to rookie goalie Jakub Skarek, who overcame early jitters to stop 27 shots in the second game of a back-to-back for both teams.

The Islanders (24-21-7) added Mathew Barzal and defenseman Scott Mayfield to their missing list after both exited with injuries in their 3-2 overtime win over the Lightning on Saturday night. Defensemen Noah Dobson and Ryan Pulock were already sidelined.

Spencer Knight made 31 saves and Carter Verhaeghe scored three goals for the Panthers (32-19-3), completing the hat trick with a power-play goal at 10:41 of the third period.

Skarek, 25, a third-round pick in 2018, has struggled to find consistency in his six seasons in the organization. Hogberg quickly supplanted him this season as the No. 1 goalie for the Islanders’ AHL affiliate in Bridgeport.

“There’s no question he has the talent and ability,” Islanders president/general manager Lou Lamoriello said. “We have to get him to play on a consistent basis, which has been troubling a little bit at times. When he gets an opportunity, it’s up to him to make the most of it.”

Skarek had sat on the bench as Ilya Sorokin’s backup in the Islanders’ previous three games, starting with Tuesday night’s 5-2 win over the Avalanche at UBS Arena.

“I have a few friends back home and they were a little bit jealous of me that I got to see [Nathan] MacKinnon and [Cale] Makar live, in person,” the Czech goalie said. “In the first period I was like, wow, this hockey is so fast. It was probably the fastest hockey I’ve ever seen. So it’s been great, even watching this hockey from the bench. It’s a great experience.

“Just watching Ilya or the opposing goalie, how they are playing the certain situations, how patient they are. It just gives me more inspiration or more perspective in how I can improve my game.”

Skarek was noticeably more confident in a wild second period that saw the Islanders score three straight before the Panthers answered with two late goals to take a 4-3 lead.

Kyle MacLean stuffed in a rebound at 3:10 to bring the Islanders within one and Jean-Gabriel Peague, with five seconds left on the Islanders’ second power play, tied it at 2 at 10:00. Rookie fourth-liner Marc Gatcomb, exiting the penalty box, gave the Islanders a 3-2 lead at 14:51.

But Evan Rodrigues got free at the crease for a backhander at 17:52 as the Panthers tied it, and Skarek had no chance as defenseman Gustav Forsling fed Sam Reinhart at the crease for the go-ahead goal with 50.2 seconds left in the second period.

Skarek looked somewhat shaky stopping Jesper Boqvist’s wrist shot just 26 seconds in before Verhaeghe opened the scoring by lifting a backhander at the crease 13 seconds later. Verhaeghe slipped into a seam within the Islanders’ defense for Sam Reinhart’s feed. Skarek then kicked out the rebound on Forsling’s shot, directly to Verhaeghe for his second goal at 12:52.

In all, Skarek faced 14 shots in the first 20 minutes, and the Islanders didn’t get their first shot until 10:59 of the first period.