SUNRISE, Fla. – With a crowd of 20,247 cheering fans breathing new life into their tired legs, a victory almost began to feel inevitable for the Florida Panthers in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinals series with the New York Islanders on Friday.
Florida had amassed 96 shot attempts to New York’s 68 by the time the final horn had sounded, but simply couldn’t sneak anything past goaltender Thomas Greiss, who held on just long enough for rookie forward Alan Quine to bury a power play goal in double overtime, giving New York to a 2-1 win and a 3-2 lead in the tightly contested series.