There was good news and bad news for the New York Islanders Saturday night. The good news was that franchise goalie Rick DiPietro returned to the lineup for the first time since March 15 and played well. DP made 34 saves and allowed only two goals for the Islanders. The bad news was that Florida's Tomas Vokoun was flawless, stopping all 31 shots the Islanders took and the Florida Panthers skated away with a 2-0 victory. It was the 26th career NHL shutout for Vokoun.

Nick Boynton tallied for the Panthers just 24 seconds into the game to put the Panthers up 1-0. Boynton put home a rebound of a Keith Ballard drive with a slap shot from the right circle. Ballard's shot hit the post and came right back to Boynton who beat DiPietro before he could move across the crease to cover the left post.

“I close my eyes and shoot,” Boynton said. “I know where the net is, but I just got lucky.”

That was the first shot on goal against DiPietro this season but he didn't get rattled despite giving up the early tally.

Islanders' coach Scott Gordon was pleased with his netminder's play. "I thought Rick did a great job of tracking the puck. That was probably the best I've seen him," Gordon said. "Especially to come off giving up a goal on his first shot, not to have that phase him was great."

"I felt good," DiPietro said. "It’s nice to, obviously, be back and contribute. Unfortunately, we lost, obviously, but nice to get my feet wet and finally see some action."

DiPietro dressed as the backup goalie for the Islanders' first four games but saw his first game action since undergoing hip and knee surgery during the offseason.

Corey Stillman's power play goal midway through the second period increased the Panthers' lead to 2-0 and that was all the support Vokoun needed. Stillman let a wrist shot go from below the right circle and beat DiPietro high on the stick side.

Gordon was concerned about his team's habit of taking too many penalties. Florida had six power plays while the Islanders managed only two chances with the extra man.

"Power plays were 5-1 after two periods," Gordon remarked. "You’re going to give up shots on the power play, it doesn’t matter how good you kill penalties. Again, it’s another night where we get all these penalties against us. It puts us on our heels."

The Islanders have now scored one goal or fewer in each of their three losses this season. They finished their two game Florida road trip with a 1-1 record after beating Tampa Bay Thursday night.

New York returns home to face the Dallas Stars Thursday night at the Nassau Coliseum.

NOTES:

Mitch Fritz was a healthy scratch for the Islanders while Josh Bailey (lower body) and Radek Martinek (upper body) were held out due to injuries.

Bill Guerin led the Islanders with six shots on goal.

The last home shutout for the Panthers came December 7th of last season in a 3-0 win over the Islanders. Tomas Vokoun made 25 saves in that game.