ELMONT, N.Y. — Aatu Raty is the Islanders’ top prospect.
And with a goal in his first NHL game — plus his first “Ra-ty, Ra-ty” chant from the UBS Arena crowd — there’s a chance the Finnish center will get a few games to show whether he’s ready for a full-time role.
Raty and defenseman Parker Wotherspoon made their NHL debuts as the suddenly injury-plagued Islanders defeated the Panthers, 5-1, on Friday night in the last game before the three-day NHL holiday break.
Both were recalled earlier in the day from the Islanders’ AHL affiliate in Bridgeport.
The Islanders (19-14-2), who had lost their last two, may have lost third-line right wing Simon Holmstrom, the 23rd overall pick in 2019 playing in his 14th NHL game, for an extended time. Holmstrom was helped off the ice with 2.8 seconds left in the second period, unable to put weight on his left leg after an unpenalized knee-to-knee hit from Sam Bennett.
The Islanders, coming off a 1-2-2 road trip, also lost second-line center Brock Nelson at 11:47 of the second period when he was hit by the puck on teammate Alexander Romanov’s attempted clear, bloodying Nelson’s left ear.
Fourth-line center Casey Cizikas (upper body) was injured in Thursday night’s 5-3 loss to the rival Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
Ilya Sorokin stopped 23 shots to snap a personal seven-game losing streak. Sergei Bobrovsky made 40 saves for the Panthers (15-16-4).
Raty extended the Islanders lead to 3-1 at 7:10 of the third period with a confident rising shot from the slot.
The 20-year-old Finnish center selected 52nd overall after initially being projected as a first-round selection, joined the organization late last season after completing his season in Finland’s SM-liiga and putting together a strong performance in the World Junior Championships in Canada. He compiled three goals and seven assists in seven games to help Finland earn the silver medal.
Coach Lane Lambert, said the reports on Raty have been encouraging from Bridgeport, where he has five goals and seven assists in 23 games.
“He’s a 200-foot player,” Lambert said. “He plays both sides of the puck and he’s played in all situations down there. For me, what I’ve seen is his compete level is very, very high. He’s having success and it will translate here.”
The Islanders are hoping the strong-skating Raty can meet his projection and develop into a top-six forward.
For his debut, Lambert started him in Cizikas’ spot between Matt Martin and Hudson Fasching.
“I think there’s always a little bit of excitement, certainly from him and us to see just exactly how it translates,” Lambert said. “But we have full confidence in him.”
Lambert also plugged Wotherspoon into what was Robin Salo’s spot as Ryan Pulock’s partner the past seven games with Adam Pelech out with a suspected head injury. Salo was benched against the Rangers after two defensive miscues led to goals and was a healthy scratch on Friday.
Wotherspoon, 25, was a fourth-round pick in 2015 who has played in 239 AHL games over eight seasons.
The Islanders took seven of the first eight shots against the Panthers but trailed 1-0 at 8:09 of the first period on Matthew Tkachuk’s four-on-four goal.
The Islanders went 0 for 4 on the power play in the first period with just four shots but tied the game at 1-1 on Anthony Beauvillier’s 100th career goal at 5:20 of the second period. Beauvillier also added an empty-net goal. Pulock, from the right wall, made it 2-1 with 44.1 seconds left in the second and Zach Parise’s backhander pushed it to 4-1 at 8:21 of the third period.
