Verhaeghe scores again, Panthers close out homestand with 4-1 win over Islanders

Sport

Verhaeghe scores again, Panthers close out homestand with 4-1 win over Islanders

2025-12-08 08:40 Last Updated At：09:00

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Carter Verhaeghe stayed red-hot with his sixth goal in his last six games, Seth Jones scored for the second consecutive game and the Florida Panthers closed a homestand by topping the New York Islanders 4-1 on Sunday.

Uvis Balinskis got a rare goal for the Panthers, who finished off a three-game, four-day stint with five points — going 2-0-1. Florida wrapped up a stretch where it played 11 out of 12 games at home, going 5-5-1 in those home contests.

Sam Reinhart added an empty-netter for Florida.

Mathew Barzal got his ninth goal for the Islanders, who had won three straight and were 7-1-0 in games when he had scored this season. No. 1 overall pick Matthew Schaefer had an assist on that goal, giving him 21 points through 30 games of his rookie season.

Balinskis sent the puck toward the net from the left point and it sailed past screened Islanders goalie David Rittich for a 1-0 lead. It was the first goal of the season for Balinskis and just the seventh of his career — including playoffs — in 126 NHL games.

Verhaeghe made it 2-0 at 7:05 of the second period off an assist from Jeff Petry. Verhaeghe — who got his 146th goal as a member of the Panthers, breaking a tie with Stephen Weiss for seventh on the team's all-time list — has six goals and five assists in his last six games, by far his most productive stretch of the season.

Jones made it 3-1 with 6 minutes left, scoring for the second straight game — the first time he's done that as a Panther.

The Islanders fell to 3-10-0 in games where they score two goals or fewer this season.

Islanders: Host Vegas on Tuesday.

Panthers: Visit Utah on Wednesday.

AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL

Four astronauts await liftoff on humanity's first flight to the moon in half a century

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Four astronauts strapped into NASA's new moon rocket and awaited liftoff Wednesday on humanity’s first lunar trip in more than half a century.

The three Americans and one Canadian waved and shaped their hands into hearts as they emerged from crew quarters to cheers and said goodbye to their families. The crowd applauded and cheered again as the astronauts boarded their astrovan for the nine mile (14-kilometer) ride to the launch pad.

Commander Reid Wiseman thanked the throngs who gathered to see them off.

“It's a great day for us. It's a great day for this team,” Wiseman called out.

Tensions were high earlier in the day as hydrogen fuel started flowing into the rocket. Dangerous hydrogen leaks erupted during a countdown test earlier this year, forcing a lengthy flight delay.

To NASA's relief, no significant hydrogen leaks occurred. The launch team loaded more than 700,000 gallons of fuel (2.6 million liters) into the 32-story Space Launch System rocket on the pad, a smooth operation that set the stage for the Artemis II crew to board.

A problem cropped up with the rocket's flight-termination system with only two hours remaining in the countdown. Commands weren't getting through to the system, which is needed to send a self-destruct signal in case the rocket veers off course and threatens populated areas. But the issue was quickly resolved, according to NASA.

“It is time to fly,” Wiseman declared on the eve of launch via X. Favorable weather was forecast.

The four will fly around the moon without stopping or even orbiting — then head straight back for a Pacific splashdown. They will set a new distance record for the farthest humans have traveled from Earth as they zoom some 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers) beyond the moon and then hang a U-turn.

Astronauts last flew to the moon during Apollo 17 in 1972.

Artemis II is the opening shot of NASA's grand plans for a permanent moon base. The space program is aiming for a moon landing near the lunar south pole in 2028.

“The next era of exploration begins,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman posted on X.

Best wishes already have started to pour in, including from England's King Charles III to Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

Hansen will become the first non-U. S. citizen to launch to the moon. The crew also includes Christina Koch and Victor Glover, the first woman and first Black astronaut, respectively, destined for the moon.

“In this historic moment, you stand as a bridge between nations and generations,” the king wrote in a letter to Hansen, “and I commend you for your courage, discipline and vision that have brought you to this threshold.”

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.