Luongo bounces back, Panthers top Isles 3-1 to even series
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) Roberto Luongo made 41 saves for his first playoff win in five years, and the Florida Panthers evened their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series by beating the New York Islanders 3-1 on Friday night.
Reilly Smith and Nick Bjugstad each had a goal and an assist for Florida, which salvaged a split in the series-opening back-to-back. Dmitry Kulikov added an empty-netter with 9.3 seconds left to clinch the win.
John Tavares scored with 3:33 left for New York, and Thomas Greiss stopped 28 shots for the Islanders.
It was Luongo's first playoff win since Game 5 of the 2011 Stanley Cup finals, snapping a streak of seven consecutive lost postseason starts. And he was victimized by Florida defensive breakdowns in Game 1 on Thursday, a big part of why he yielded five goals on 26 New York shots.
Game 3 is in Brooklyn on Sunday.
