NHL: New York Islanders 3, Florida 2 (SO)

SUNRISE, Fla., March 25 (UPI) -- Frans Nielsen netted the shootout game-winner Sunday, lifting the New York Islanders to a 3-2 victory over Florida.

Nielsen beat Panthers goalie Jose Theodore with a backhand shot under the crossbar in the first round of the tiebreaker.

New York goalie Evgeni Nabokov, meanwhile, made stops on Florida's John Madden, Wojtek Wolski and Marcel Goc during the shootout and logged 33 saves for the game.

Kyle Okposo and Matt Moulson recorded regulation-time goals for the Islanders.

Tomas Fleischmann notched a goal and an assist, and Stephen Weiss also scored for Florida, which saw its Southeast Division lead over Washington dwindle to three points.

Theodore finished with 35 saves.