Florida Panthers Eliminated By NY Islanders With 5-1 Loss

MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) – On Friday, The New York Islanders advanced to the first round of the NHL playoffs courtesy of defenseman Ryan Pulock using his stick to make a clutch defensive play and secure a preliminary round series-clinching 5-1 win over Florida in Game 4 of their best-of-five series.

Some 25 seconds after Brock Nelson scored to put the Islanders up 3-1 at the 12:01 mark of the second period, Pulock dived across the crease to prevent Panthers leading scorer Aleksander Barkov from scoring into an open net.

“To me, it was one of those defining moments,” Islanders coach Barry Trotz said of Pulock managing to stretch out his stick and deflect Barkov’s backhander over the net. “That was…