Panthers shut down Tavares, top Islanders

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[January 15, 2014]  SUNRISE, Fla. — Panthers 4, Islanders 2: Scottie Upshall scored for the first time since Nov. 30 and added an assist as host Florida halted New York's winning streak.Drew Shore, rookie Aleksander Barkov and Nick Bjugstad also scored for the Panthers, who improved to 4-1-2 in their last seven games. Tim Thomas made 31 saves for his third victory in five starts.

Colin McDonald and Thomas Vanek replied for the Islanders, who saw their four-game winning streak come to an end and fell to 3-1-0 on their six-game road trip. Kevin Poulin stopped 22 shots for his first loss since Evgeni Nabokov was injured.

Barkov opened the scoring 32 seconds into the contest, finishing a give-and-go with Brad Boyes for the eighth goal of the season. Shore netted his first of the season on a sneaky shot from the right faceoff dot and Bjugstad capitalized on a turnover with a forehand deke to put Florida up 3-0 before the end of the period.

Upshall extended the advantage with 4:01 remaining in the second period when he stole the puck from Andrew MacDonald and scored on a short-handed breakaway. McDonald spoiled Thomas' shutout bid with 31 seconds left in the second and Vanek added his 16th of the season 2:38 into the third, but the Islanders could not pull any closer.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Upshall, 30, has two career short-handed goals in 454 games. His only other one came on March 10, 2007 while a member of the Philadelphia Flyers. … The Panthers were 0-for-5 on the power play, dropping to 0-for-22 in their last seven contests. … Islanders captain John Tavares was held off the scoresheet for the second time in three games and finished with a minus-3 rating.

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