NHL

Florida Panthers at New York Islanders

· National Hockey League
Final
4 - 5

Lee scores in final minute, Schaefer has 2 more goals as the Islanders beat the Panthers 5-4

Anders Lee scores last-minute winner for Islanders

Carson Soucy and Bo Horvat also scored and David Rittich made 28 saves as the Islanders won their fifth straight game and eighth in their last 10.

The 18-year-old Schaeffer has 20 goals, three behind Hall of Famer Brian Leetch for the most by a rookie defenseman in NHL history.

Sam Bennett scored twice and Sandis Vilmanis and Sam Reinhart each had a goal for Florida, which lost its second in a row. Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves for the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers, who are eight points out of a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

Lee finished a backhand-to-forehand move for his third straight game with a goal to put the Islanders ahead for good with 32 seconds left.

Schaefer had given the Islanders a 4-3 lead with his second goal of the game midway through the third period when he walked in from the blue line and beat Bobrovsky with a wrist shot.

Reinhart tied it at 4 with 1:58 remaining after coach Paul Maurice pulled Bobrovsky for an extra attacker.

Florida took a 2-0 lead with two goals in the first period. Vilmanis slid a backhander through Rittich’s legs at 3:44 and Bennett scored on the power play later in the period.

The Islanders pulled within 2-1 late in the first when Schaefer’s slap shot deflected several times and bounced over Bobrovsky.

Soucy tied it at 2 with less than eight minutes left in the second.

Bennett restored Florida’s lead at 3-2 with his second goal, slipping a backhand under Rittich’s blocker. But Horvat scored his team-leading 25th goal to make it 3-3 with less than three minutes remaining in the second.

Islanders forward Jonathan Drouin didn't play because of a lower-body injury.

Up next Panthers: Visit New Jersey on Tuesday.

Islanders: Visit Anaheim on Wednesday to begin a four-game road trip.

Regular Season Series

Series tied 1-1

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 3:44 Sandis Vilmanis Goal (3) Backhand, assists: A.J. Greer (11), Sergei Bobrovsky (2)
Goal 1st Period 14:54 Sam Bennett Goal (21) Snap Shot, assists: Aaron Ekblad (19), Matthew Tkachuk (6)
Goal 1st Period 18:01 Matthew Schaefer Goal (19) Slap Shot, assists: Ryan Pulock (21), Mathew Barzal (38)
Goal 2nd Period 7:28 Carson Soucy Goal (5) Snap Shot, assists: Simon Holmstrom (19), Tony DeAngelo (23)
Goal 2nd Period 12:04 Sam Bennett Goal (22) Backhand, assists: Matthew Tkachuk (7)
Goal 2nd Period 17:14 Bo Horvat Goal (25) Snap Shot, assists: Matthew Schaefer (24)
Goal 3rd Period 10:29 Matthew Schaefer Goal (20) Snap Shot, assists: Ondrej Palat (9)
Goal 3rd Period 18:02 Sam Reinhart Goal (28) Snap Shot, assists: Aaron Ekblad (20), Matthew Tkachuk (8)
Goal 3rd Period 19:28 Anders Lee Goal (14) Wrist Shot, assists: Tony DeAngelo (24), Adam Pelech (8)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/fla.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originFLA https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/nyi.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originNYI
13 Blocked Shots 17
23 Hits 25
5 Takeaways 6
33 Shots 26
1 Power Play Goals 0
3 Power Play Opportunities 1
33.3 Power Play Percentage 0.0
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
33 Faceoffs Won 32
50.8 Faceoff Win Percent 49.2
12 Giveaways 15
1 Total Penalties 3
2 Penalty Minutes 6
New York Islanders New York Islanders Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Kyle Palmieri, C Injured Reserve Apr 15
Maxim Shabanov, RW Out Apr 14
Ryan Pulock, D Out Apr 14
Semyon Varlamov, G Injured Reserve Apr 14
Alexander Romanov, D Injured Reserve Apr 12
Florida Panthers Florida Panthers Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Carter Verhaeghe, C Out Apr 15
Sam Bennett, C Out Apr 15
Gustav Forsling, D Out Apr 15
Tomas Nosek, LW Out Apr 15
Seth Jones, D Out Apr 9

Game Information

UBS Arena

Location: Elmont, NY
Attendance: 17,255 | Capacity:

2025-26 Atlantic Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Buffalo 50 23 109 9
Tampa Bay 50 26 106 6
Montreal 48 24 106 10
Boston 45 27 100 10
Ottawa 44 27 99 11
Detroit 41 31 92 10
Florida 40 38 84 4
Toronto 32 36 78 14

2025-26 Metropolitan Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Carolina 53 22 113 7
Pittsburgh 41 25 98 16
Philadelphia 43 27 98 12
Washington 43 30 95 9
Columbus 40 30 92 12
NY Islanders 43 34 91 5
New Jersey 42 37 87 3
NY Rangers 34 39 77 9
Full Standings