NEW YORK -- Coach Jack Capuano was too disgusted to speak to the New York Islanders during the second intermission Monday night.

About an hour later, right winger Cal Clutterbuck had a far more enjoyable time searching for the words to describe what he and his teammates just experienced.

"That's a good feeling," Clutterbuck said after he scored the game-winning goal with 1:39 left to cap a stunning comeback by the Islanders, who scored three goals in a span of less than six minutes late in the third period to beat the Florida Panthers 3-2 at Barclays Center.

"Umm, yeah," Clutterbuck said as he ran a hand through his hair before he paused again. "It's a good feeling."

It sure beat what the Islanders were feeling after the first 40 minutes, during which they generated just 11 shots, fell behind 2-0 and got booed off the ice following the second-period buzzer. New York headed into the locker room having scored just eight goals in its past 11 periods dating back to March 6.

Capuano, channeling his disgusted inner parent, chose not to walk into the locker room at intermission in hopes the Islanders' leaders would take the cue.

"I didn't really want to break anything, number one," Capuano said. "And number two, at this point in time, if you have to go in and tell them the importance of the game ...

"It's Johnny's team," Capuano said, referring to captain John Tavares. "It's the leaders at this point and time of the year. That was probably the reason that we felt, as a staff, you know what, the guys -- let them do what they need to do."

The Islanders responded to the silent treatment in the third but were initially stymied by Roberto Luongo. The Panthers goalie stopped a pair of put-back attempts by Anders Lee a little more than six minutes in and saved a backhanded attempt by Josh Bailey just after the eight-minute mark.

The Islanders finally broke through with 7:10 remaining, when Kyle Okposo fired a slap shot past Luongo. The goal had just been announced when Bailey tied the score with 5:49 left by pouncing on a Tavares rebound and tucking it into the open right corner of the net.

"I think you can feel it throughout the stands, and the crowd really started getting into it at that point," Bailey said. "You could start feeling the momentum after that. I think we rode that out."

With the crowd of 14,106 roaring, Clutterbuck capped the comeback following a wild scrum in front of the Panthers' net. Clutterbuck was fighting for the puck with Panthers defenseman Jakub Kindl before he finally wrested it free and threw a backhanded shot at net. The puck appeared to tip off the skate of the Panthers' Alex Petrovic and past a sprawling Luongo as the crowd roared.

"It's not the way you draw it up, but two points are two points," Clutterbuck said. "One of those nights where we really didn't have it, so to dig deep and pull it out in the third was huge for us."

Especially in the standings. Goalie Thomas Greiss made 23 saves for the Islanders, who moved within one point of the New York Rangers for second place in the Metropolitan Division and increased their lead over the fourth-place Pittsburgh Penguins to four points. The Islanders (38-21-8) begin a three-game road trip by visiting the Penguins on Tuesday.

"We'll be happy with it, obviously it's a big two points for us, especially the situation we put ourselves in late in the third," Bailey said. "But tomorrow's an even bigger game."

Aleksander Barkov scored in the first period and had the first assist on Nick Bjugstad's second-period goal for the Panthers, who squandered a chance to move into sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Division ahead of the idle Boston Bruins. Florida (38-22-9) and the Tampa Bay Lightning remain tied for second. Both teams have 13 games remaining.

"In the third period, (the Islanders) were upset, they came out and they started to skate and they played their game," Panthers coach Gerard Gallant said. "They took it to us."

Luongo made 25 saves as the Panthers lost for the sixth time in nine games (3-4-2).

"Really disappointing loss," left winger Jussi Jokinen said, "We needed these points."

NOTES: The Islanders scratched G Jaroslav Halak (lower body) as well as RW Steve Bernier, LW Eric Boulton, C Mikhail Grabovski and D Brian Strait. Grabovski was a healthy scratch after being activated earlier in the day from injured reserve, where he spent nine games due to an upper body injury. ... Islanders D Calvin De Haan returned to the lineup after missing four games with a lower body injury. He has played in just three of the Islanders' last 12 games due to the ailment. ... The Panthers scratched C Derek MacKenzie (foot), D Willie Mitchell (upper body) and D Steven Kampfer. ... After making his Barclays Center debut, Panthers RW Jaromir Jagr has now played in 58 current or former NHL arenas.