New York Islanders at Florida Panthers

Carter Verhaeghe has 4th career trick in Panthers' 6-3 victory over the Islanders

Verhaeghe added an assist on Matthew Tkachuk's empty-netter for a four-point night. Reinhart also had an assist.

Evan Rodrigues also scored for Florida, and Spencer Knight made 31 saves. Aleksander Barkov had three assists, and Gustav Forsling added two assists.

Kyle MacLean, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Marc Gatcomb scored for the Islanders. Jakub Skarek stopped 27 shots.

Verhaeghe opened scoring with a backhander 39 seconds into the game and gave the Panthers a two-goal lead with 7:08 left in the period.

His third came midway through the final period when he snapped home a nice cross-ice feed from Tkachuk. It was Verhaeghe's first hat trick since April 1, 2023, when he had four goals for the Panthers in a victory over Columbus.

Takeaways Islanders: Had not lost a game since a 5-3 loss at home to Philadelphia on Jan. 16. That was also the last time New York gave up more than two goals. During their winning streak, the Islanders outscored opponents 24-9.

Panthers: Verhaeghe has had a strong two-game stretch, with six points (four goals and two assists).

Key moment After New York scored three straight second-period goals to take a 3-2 lead, Rodrigues tied it with 2:08 left in the second. Reinhart followed with 51 seconds to go in the period to put the Panthers back on top.

Key stat The Panthers had five players with multiple points: Verhaeghe (4), Barkov (3), Reinhart (2), Tkachuk (2) and Forsling (2).

Up next Both teams return to play Tuesday night. The Islanders host Vegas, and the Panthers are at Washington.

FLA leads series 2-0