ELMONT, New York – The Florida Panthers will continue their road trip through the Empire State when they take on the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Even though the Islanders are in the second half of a back-to-back, the Panthers don’t expect the legs to be too heavy on the other side of the ice in tonight’s game.

“We want to be ready to go,” said head coach Paul Maurice. “I don’t think it gives us any advantage this early in the season. … Sometimes, consecutively this early in the year, the other team actually has the advantage because neither team has a lot of hockey on them.

Improved to 5-3-1, the Panthers opened their road with two points in the Big Apple.

Handing the New York Rangers their first regulation loss of the season, Anton Lundell, Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Bennett scored to lift the Panthers to a 3-1 victory on Thursday.

Named first star of the game, Sergei Bobrovsky made 24 saves to become only the 14th^th goaltender in NHL history to reach 400 victories. In doing so, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner became the fastest to reach this lofty mark, achieving the feat in just 707 games played.

In the victory, the Panthers also put up four power plays for the Rangers.

“Huge win in a big building with good energy from the fans,” said forward AJ Greer. “For us, it was about setting the tone from the start and forcing them to make mistakes just by being consistent.”

Making a dent on the scoresheet in seven of the nine games to start the season, Sam Reinhart leads the Panthers with 13 points (five goals, eight assists). Bennett and Lundell each scored nine points, with Lundell touching the string five times in his last six games.

Prepared for his third start of the season, Spencer Knight will be in front of the post for Florida.

Expected to return to the lineup Monday in Buffalo, captain Aleksander Barkov participated in this morning’s practice, rejoining the main group for the first time since suffering a lower-body injury on Oct. 10. Additionally, Jonah Gadjovich, whose return is not as close, was also on the ice this morning.

Outside of the Knight draw, the Panthers should have no roster changes tonight.

“It’s great to see him healthy and close to being back,” forward Patrick Giles said of Barkov.

With a 3-2-2 record, the Islanders enter tonight’s game full of adrenaline after a 4-3 overtime victory over the New Jersey Devils on Friday. Brock Nelson, Anders Lee and Kyle Palmieri all scored for the Islanders in regulation, while Bo Horvat scored the winning goal in overtime.

In net, Ilya Sorokin stopped 32 of 35 shots.

Held scoreless in three of their seven games this season, the Islanders rank 28^th in the NHL with an average of 2.43 goals per game. Palmieri, Nelson and Noah Dobson are tied for the team lead in scoring with five points each, while three other players have scored four.

With Sorokin occupying the field less than 24 hours ago against the Devils, backup goaltender Semyon Varlamov will likely get the nod against the Panthers. In three appearances this season, Varlamov has a 1-1-1 record with a .868 save percentage.

The last time the Panthers were on Long Island, Matthew Tkachuk and Reinhart each scored a power play goal in a 3-2 victory on January 27, 2024.

“Home or away, it’s the same — you just have to be consistent,” Greer said.

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