Panthers Begin Crucial 4-game Road Trip With Visit To Long Island

The Florida Panthers will look to bounce back from a frustrating defeat their last time out when they kick off a challenging road trip on Sunday.

Florida has won one and lost one since exiting the NHL’s Olympic pause, dropping Friday’s matchup with the Buffalo Sabres on a night where the Cats were extremely frustrated with a challenged goal that was allowed, leading to a 3-2 defeat.

Now the Panthers are set to begin a four-game, six-day road trip when they face a strong New York Islanders squad at UBS Arena.

The Islanders have won four straight games, including each of the two they have played since the league resumed following the Olympic break.

Their most recent victories have come on the road, with the Isles battling back from 2-0 deficits in both to claim a pair of overtime wins.

Entering play Sunday, New York is holding onto third place in the Metropolitan Division, clinging to a four-point edge over the Washington Capitals who are out of the playoff spot at the moment, one point behind the Boston Bruins, who hold the final Wild Card spot.

A big reason for the Islanders success this season has been the play of goaltender Ilya Sorokin.

He’s 10-3-0 since the calendar flipped to 2026, picking up three of his six shutouts during the month of January.

Florida, meanwhile, remains eight points behind Boston for that last Wild Card spot.

There is hope that sometime during their road trip, defenseman Dmitry Kulikov and forward Tomas Nosek may come off the injured list and re-join the squad.

For Nosek, he will be making his season debut whenever he gets the green light while Kulikov will be seeing his first action since he suffered a shoulder injury during the second game of the season.

Additionally, Florida is also expecting to have injured defenseman Seth Jones and ailing forward Jonah Gadjovich ready to return in the near future as well, though whether either comes back during the road trip has yet to be determined.

Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Sunday’s showdown on Long Island:

Carter Verhaeghe – Evan Rodrigues – Sam Reinhart

Mackie Samoskevich – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk

Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Brad Marchand

A.J. Greer – Jesper Boqvist – Sandis Vilmanis

Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad

Niko Mikkola – Dmitry Kulikov

Tobias Bjornfot – Jeff Petry

LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA 

The Hockey Show: Panthers Have Seep Hill To Climb, Olympic Fallout, Jonathan Zaslow Discusses US Controversy

‘I Don’t Know What These Guys Are Smoking’: Daniil Tarasov Rips NHL For Allowing Disputed Goal

Questionable Goal Dooms Panthers In 3-2 Loss to Buffalo

Panthers' Cole Schwindt Sustains A Lower-Body Injury; Luke Kunin To Step Into Lineup

Report: Panthers Pondering A Sergei Bobrovsky Extension; Could They Trade Him Prior To The Deadline?

Photo caption: Dec 7, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers left wing A.J. Greer (10) moves the puck against the New York Islanders defenseman Tony Deangelo (77) during the second period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)