Aatu Raty scored in his NHL debut and the New York Islanders again rebounded from a disappointing loss, this time beating the Florida Panthers 5-1 at home in their last game before the league’s three-day Christmas break.
Raty wasn’t the only Islander making his NHL debut — Parker Wotherspoon, with considerable more AHL experience and a long wait for this moment, also debuted and logged 14:27.
Wotherspoon was solid, though the puck jumped off his stick a few times. Raty was really steady and flashed good offensive instincts on his goal. The Islanders also got continued good contributions from fellow callups Hudson Fasching and Simon Holmstrom, though the latter left the game after taking a knee from Sam Bennett late in the second period.