SUNRISE, Fla. — The Islanders had the edge in experience at nearly every position except the one that matters most. Turns out, that didn’t matter at all.
Goalie Thomas Greiss was a rock in his first career playoff start, making 42 saves to help the Islanders to a 5-4 win in Game 1 of their first-round series against the Panthers at the BB&T Center Thursday.
“It was really a fun atmosphere to play in, the crowd is going crazy and everyone has lot of energy and is going hard,” Greiss said. “It’s definitely more exciting. It felt great.”
Greiss faced 20 more shots than the Panthers’ Roberto Luongo, but the former also denied flurries far more difficult than the All-Star was challenged with, allowing the Islanders to come back from three deficits.
Luongo, who was drafted by the Islanders in 1997, made just 21 saves.
One week ago, Alan Quine, 23, was in Bridgeport (AHL), finishing his third season with the Islanders’ minor league affiliate. Now, he is playing a big role in the playoffs.
Playing in just his third NHL game, Quine provided a huge play in the game in the third period, powering through the zone and past three defenders with an incredible move to the net, getting off a shot that bounced off Luongo and to Ryan Strome, who scored the winning goal.
“When they first get here, I know from experience you try to come up and play safe and do the right things and we want him to do that, but we know what his game is,” Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. “He’s got some offensive flair to his game and we want him to use that. He’s here to help us win. The minutes he played were hard minutes. He wasn’t afraid to do what he had to do on the offensive side of the puck. It was a great move coming out of our own end.”
Because of scheduling conflicts at both teams’ arenas, the Islanders and Panthers will play Game 2 on Friday — the only back-to-back set in any first-round series. Capuano wouldn’t confirm that Greiss would make a second straight start, though it is expected.
Defenseman Travis Hamonic returned after missing the final six games of the regular season with an injured right knee. … Islanders goaltender Jean-Francois Berube was available to play, having returned from a lower-body injury to serve as the backup on Thursday.