The Florida Panthers were supposed to be serious playoff contenders this season Timothy Liljegren Jersey Womens , and the New York Islanders, well, weren’t.But through roughly the first-eighth of this season, the opposite seemed true.The Islanders, who visit the Panthers on Saturday night at the BB&T Center, entered the weekend atop the Metropolitan Division with 18 points and an 8-5-2 record.Article continues below ...New York hasn’t seemed bothered by what many hockey writers predicted would be a catastrophe for the franchise — superstar center John Tavares’ decision to bolt to the Toronto Maple Leafs as a free agent.“We know we can play with anyone,” Islanders center Mathew Barzal said of his team sans Tavares. “We know we can beat anyone.”Meanwhile, the Panthers, who finished just one point short of the playoffs last season and then traded for winger Mike Hoffman — who has averaged better than 25 goals in each of the past four seasons — entered the weekend tied for last in the NHL with 11 points.But it appears Florida’s fortunes are changing. Goalie Roberto Luongo Antoine Roussel Jersey Womens , a sure-fire Hall of Famer, injured his right knee in the season opener. Ever since he got back, the Panthers are undefeated at 2-0-0.“It’s good to get on a roll,” said Luongo, who has a stellar 1.19 goals-against average and a .959 save percentage in three games this season. “We’ve got to keep pushing hard.”Assuming Luongo gets the start Saturday, he will be facing an Islanders team that has lost two straight games, allowing eight goals during that span.Winger Evgenii Dadonov leads the Panthers this season in goals (seven) and points (14). Hoffman is tied for third on the team with 11 points, and he also has a career-best 10-game points streak.In 25 years of Panthers history, only three other players have had points streaks of that duration – Pavel Bure Tim Schaller Jersey Womens , Olli Jokinen and Jussi Jokinen.“I guess it’s good,” Hoffman modestly said of his streak. “You’ve got to get a couple of lucky breaks to have a streak like that, but I’m just trying to help the team win as many games as possible.”Hoffman leads Florida in power-play goals (three) and power-play shots (43). He has led a Panthers power play that has recovered since starting the season with no goals in 13 tries.In their last five games, Florida has gone 7 of 23 on its power play.As for the Islanders, they are led in scoring in points by Josh Bailey (17) and in goals by Brock Nelson (seven).In goal, the Islanders have Thomas Greiss and Robin Lehner. Greiss is 4-2-1 with a 1.98 GAA and .940 save percentage. Lehner is 4-3-1 with a 2.53 GAA and a .924 save percentage.One issue for the Islanders is that left winger Matt Martin, who has three goals in 11 games this season, has an upper-body injury. If he can’t play against the Panthers, that would be the fourth straight game he has missed.Florida is relatively healthy Jay Beagle Jersey Womens , especially now that Luongo is back. Most of the Panthers’ current injuries are to players who are bottom-six forwards or Mark Pysyk, who is one of their bottom-three defensemen. In other words, Florida’s injuries are manageable now that Luongo has returned. DENVER (AP) Semyon Varlamov rescued Colorado’s struggling offense with a stellar performance against Montreal.Varlamov made 43 saves for his first victory in more than a month and the Avalanche matched the franchise record of 10 straight home wins, beating the Canadiens 2-0 on Wednesday night.Carl Soderberg and Alexander Kerfoot scored to help Colorado equal the longest home winning streak in franchise history, set in 1994-95 when the team was the Quebec Nordiques.Article continues below ...”It seems for us it’s harder to play the road these days,” Varlamov said. ”We’ve got to play like that on the road trips.”Antti Niemi stopped 23 shots for Montreal. The Canadiens are 8-17-1 on the road.”We didn’t find a way to put the puck in the net,” forward Brendan Gallagher said.Varlamov’s play had a lot to do with that problem. His last win came against Toronto on Dec. 29, and he left his next start against Winnipeg with a groin injury. He missed 10 games before returning against the Jets on Feb. 3.Wednesday was his fourth game since coming back and one of his best this year. He denied the Canadiens on several chances in the third for his second shutout of the season.”I didn’t love us tonight, but Varly comes up big and gets us a win Curtis McKenzie Jersey Womens ,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. ”That’s what you need sometimes out of your goaltenders. He was really good, we get the win. That’s good; we needed the points.”The Avalanche moved within two points of Minnesota for the second wild card in the Western Conference. They’re keeping pace without leading scorer Nathan MacKinnon, who has missed seven games with a left shoulder injury.Colorado has scored two or fewer goals in four of those games, including Wednesday night, but Varlamov made the two goals stand up. He was instrumental in Montreal going 0 for 4 on the power play, including 40 seconds with a two-man advantage in the second period.”I thought our power play could have won us the game and they weren’t good tonight,” Canadiens coach Claude Julien said. ”Our (penalty kill) did a great job tonight but our PP wasn’t good enough. When you’re looking to score goals your PP has to come up big, especially when you have a 5-on-3.”Colorado had more than two consecutive minutes of play in Montreal’s end early in the second period but didn’t score until Soderberg beat Niemi with a wraparound at 15:55.With Montreal pressing for the equalizer late in the third, Kerfoot scored at 16:58 to give the Avalanche a two-goal cushion.”I think I had the whole net there and it found a way to squeak in Nick Holden Jersey Womens ,” said Kerfoot, who has 14 goals in his rookie season. ”It was good that we got one at the end there.”NOTES: There was a moment of silence before the national anthems for the victims of the school shooting in Florida. … The Avalanche recalled Rocco Grimaldi from San Antonio of the AHL. MacKinnon, out since Jan. 30, was placed on injured reserve to make room for Grimaldi on the roster. … Montreal C Phillip Danault (concussion) is on the four-game trip but has not played since Jan. 13. … This was the 3,000th game in Quebec/Colorado franchise history, with 1,744 having been played since the team became the Avalanche in 1995. … Colorado LW Blake Comeau missed his third straight game with a lower-body injury.UP NEXTCanadiens: At Arizona on Thursday night.Avalanche: At Winnipeg on Friday night.