Hayes Leads Panthers Past Islanders

The Florida Panthers came away with a 4-2 win over the New York Islanders on Tuesday thanks in part to two goals from Jimmy Hayes.

Florida scored at least one goal in each period of the win. This was only the second win for the Panthers in their last nine tries which dates back to January 13th. The win boosted Florida's record to 22-17-10 which is good for 54 points.

Hayes scored his first goal in the opening period to tie the game up early. It was the 14th goal of the year for Hayes with assists going to Nick Bjugstad and Jussi Jokinen.

Erik Gudbranson's third goal of the year came in the second period and gave Florida a 2-1 lead at the time. Tomas Fleischmann and Brandon Pirri assisted on the go-ahead score.

In the third period, Hayes added his 15th goal of the season to give the Panthers a 3-2 lead. Bjugstad and Aaron Ekblad both assisted on what ended up being the deciding goal. Brandon Pirri would put home his eighth goal of the year later in the period with a helping hand from Jonathan Huberdeau.

Al Montoya had 32 saves in the 34 chances sent his way. Roberto Luongo was given the day off as this was the second game in as many days. Luongo figures to return to the net in the next game for Florida.

Sean Bergenheim and Shawn Thornton were both healthy scratches for the Panthers.