Matthew Tkachuk scored twice, Sam Bennett got the go-ahead goal in the third period, and the Florida Panthers rallied from three goals down to beat the Islanders 6-3 on Saturday night.

Prior to the game, the Islanders (3-3-2) recalled forwards Pierre Engvall and Hudson Fasching from their AHL affiliate in Bridgeport and signed long-time fourth-liner Matt Martin.

Anton Lundell had two assists, and Spencer Knight made 25 saves for the Panthers (6-3-1), who have won three of four. Kyle Palmieri had a goal and an assist, and Maxim Tsyplakov had two assists for the Islanders (3-3-2), who won 4-3 in overtime at the New Jersey Devils on Friday. Semyon Varlamov made 22 saves.

The Islanders burst out to a 3-0 lead with another slew of productive shots from the point, but the Florida Panthers steadily chipped away, like the Stanley Cup champions they are, climbing back for a 6-3 that felt oddly inevitable by the second intermission.

This was barreling toward a blowout victory, the Islanders getting to the net and humming on all cylinders, making a statement with a win over the defending champions. And then reality crashed in on the Islanders like all the empty seats at UBS Arena in the form of six unanswered goals and a 6-3 loss to the Panthers — a reminder of the gulf between these two teams and the standard for which the Islanders are still reaching.