Panthers Unravel

The New York Islanders closed the door on the Florida Panthers on Monday night. Afterward, the Panthers closed the door to everyone else.

After the Islanders’ 6-2 victory at Uniondale, N.Y., the Panthers shut their dressing room door for a half-hour meeting.

“What was said in there is going to stay in there,” Panthers Coach Terry Murray said. “You can’t stand back and accept what you are seeing.”

What Murray saw was poor play both with and without the puck, as Florida allowed the Islanders unimpeded chances at goalie Sean Burke.

Robert Reichel had a four-point game with two goals and two assists to lead the Islanders. Bryan Smolinski added two goals.

Colorado 3, Carolina 2--Peter Forsberg broke out of his goal-scoring drought, beating Arturs Irbe for a goal and assisting on goals by Claude Lemieux and Rene Corbet to lead the Avalanche at Greensboro, N.C.

Edmonton 5, Vancouver 3--Josef Beranek scored twice and assisted on Bill Guerin’s league-leading ninth goal at Edmonton, Canada, as the Oilers moved into first place in the Northwest Division.

NHL Notes

In one of toughest penalties in junior hockey history, the Ontario Hockey League suspended Jeff Kugel, a forward for the Windsor Spitfires, for life after he came off the bench and slugged an unsuspecting Juri Golicic of the Owen Sound Platers during a brawl Oct. 25 at Windsor, Canada.