SUNRISE - Roberto Luongo stopped 50 shots, including 26 in the first period, and the Panthers rallied to beat the Islanders 6-4 on Wednesday.
Despite being outshot 54-24 and trailing 2-0 early, Florida ended an eight-game winless streak (0-5-3) against the Islanders and won its first at home against the Islanders since Jan. 12, 2000.
Florida is seven points behind the Islanders for the eighth and final playoff spot. After its win, ninth-place Buffalo leads Florida by three and trails New York by four. All three have nine games left.
Luongo, who entered leading the league with a .934 save percentage, kept the Islanders from building more than a 2-0 lead in the first while Florida was being outshot 28-7.
"Nobody was satisfied with the first period," Luongo said. "I was just trying to keep it close."
The Islanders tied a franchise record with their 28 shots. The record had been set against Pittsburgh Dec. 5, 1978.
"You get 28 shots. That's a pretty good stat," Islanders center Jason Blake said. "But it doesn't mean much if there's no one there for the rebound."
The 28 shots set a Florida record for shots allowed in a period, breaking the record of 26 set against Anaheim on Jan. 1, 1994, and tied at Los Angeles on Jan. 6, 2000.
"They came out hard on us there," Panthers coach John Torchetti said. "They smelled blood, and they went for it. Louie was unbelievable. It could have been 5-0 after the first period."
Down 2-1, Nathan Horton's fluke goal tied it for the Panthers 2:25 into the second. Goalie Rick DiPietro let the puck slip through his legs after going behind the net to play a dump-in, and Horton converted.
Olli Jokinen gave Florida the lead with 5:30 left in the period with a short-handed goal, and Matt Cullen made it 4-2 when he put home Mike Van Ryn's cross-ice pass in front of the net with 1:31 left in the period.
Michael Peca brought the Islanders to 4-3 on a tip-in 7:13 into the third. But Mikael Samuelsson scored his first of the season 28 seconds later on a one-timer from the slot.
SABRES 4, THRASHERS 3 (OT): Derek Roy scored a fluke goal 15 seconds in for visiting Buffalo, which rallied to gain ground on the Islanders.
Atlanta enforcers Kip Brennan and Francis Lessard were involved in two fights apiece, with Lessard ejected for his attack on Andrew Peters in the third.
Taking advantage of a seven-minute power play for the attack, Adam Mair got Buffalo within 3-2 with 16 seconds left in the advantage. Just 56 seconds later, Jochen Hecht tied it. Milan Bartovic skated behind the net and flipped a pass out front to Hecht, who put it through Pasi Nurminen's legs with 6:13 left.
In overtime, Roy skated into the Atlanta zone and fired a shot from the top of the circle. It caught Nurminen in the chest, fell at his feet and rolled in.
DEVILS 6, PENGUINS 1: Jeff Friesen had two goals and two assists as host New Jersey ended Pittsburgh's six-game unbeaten streak. Friesen made it 1-0 1:59 in when he backhanded the rebound of Viktor Kozlov's shot past Sebastien Caron. Scott Niedermayer followed 1:21 later with a slapper from the top of the right circle. Friesen made it 3-0 on a goal-mouth scramble with 2:56 left in the first.
BLUES 1, DUCKS 1: Martin Skoula's goal with 4:30 left lifted host Anaheim. Skoula's 50-foot slap shot deflected off Reinhard Divis' glove and dribbled across the goal line. Keith Tkachuk nearly won it for the Blues, but Jean-Sebastien Giguere stopped him point blank at the edge of the crease with 35 seconds left in overtime.
HURRICANES 3, BLACKHAWKS 2: Erik Cole scored with 4:22 left for visiting Carolina, which had a season-high 49 shots. Cole beat Michael Leighton high to the stick side with a shot from the top of the right circle off a pass from Rod Brind'Amour.
RED WINGS: Defenseman Derian Hatcher is day to day with a shoulder bruise, and his status for tonight's game has not been determined. Hatcher, who missed 64 games earlier this season with a torn knee ligament, collided with Calgary's Chris Simon behind the net during the third period Tuesday.
