Jesper Bratt notched his second career hat trick to power the New Jersey Devils to a 6-2 rout over the Florida Panthers in the second straight game between the two clubs at Amerant Bank Arena.
New Jersey struck for three power-play goals and Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier each collected three helpers in what turned out to be a pretty one-sided affair.
After Stefan Noesen opened the scoring at 10:01 by backhanding a rebound past Sergei Bobrovsky, former Devil Jesper Boqvist replied for the Panthers 2:12 later.
Boqvist took a crossing pass from Matthew Tkachuk before cutting to the middle of the ice where he got through Dougie Hamilton and went backhand-to-forehead to solve Jake Allen. The second assist on the pretty goal went to Sam Bennett, who returned to action after missing Tuesday’s tilt.
Hamilton would rebound to get the primary helper on Bratt’s first of the night which came when he took his time and sniped Bobrovsky from the right circle with less than two seconds left in the period and Carter Verhaeghe off for slashing.
Sam Reinhart fired in his 13th of the season 4:45 into the middle frame after an Aleksander Barkov faceoff win, picking the far-side top corner with a perfect shot from the left circle. The goal extended Reinhart’s point streak to nine games and Barkov’s to seven.
A strong next shift from New Jersey cancelled out any potential Florida momentum and sent Gustav Forsling off for holding. The Devils manufactured some puck luck and the eventual game-winning goal when Jack Hughes’ centering pass into the crease went off Dmitry Kulkov’s skate and then Dawson’s Mercer’s 1:11 after Reinhart’s marker. Ugh!
The Devils would come up with another late-period goal when Noesen picked up his second of the game with 11 ticks left with a one-timer from the lower left circle off a feed from Hischier. This time, Niko Mikkola was the Cat spending time in the sin bin.
Bratt produced his second of the night with a rather innocent-looking shot that somehow leaked through Bobrovsky following a turnover 3:50 into the third and then complete his hatty shorthanded with another unassisted goal, this time into an empty net, with 5:12 left in game.
You could make the case the Panthers got an undeserved result on Tuesday, but not so much last night. New Jersey bedeviled the Cats with its speed, tenacity and by constantly getting pucks to the net, making Bobrovsky’s night a harried one. Special teams was key as the Devils went 3-for-5 on the power play while the Panthers, who also got five cracks at it, put up a disappointing 0-fer. Things won’t get any easier as the finale of the five-game homestand features the 15-2 Winnipeg Jets.
Fire & Brimstone
- Sam Reinhart became the first NHLer to hit 13 goals this season. Reinhart has amassed eight goals and 13 points during his nine-game point streak.
- Jesper Bratt became the third Devil to score a goal at even strength, on the power play, and shorthanded in a single game, joining John MacLean and Peter Stastny.
- Rough night for Sergei Bobrovsky, who was beaten five times on 28 shots. Jake Allen finished with 25 saves for the New Jersey.
- The Panthers out-hit the Devils 45-29. A.J. Greer led the way with six of them in his 10:18 of ice time.
- Other than Aleksander Barkov (60%), Florida had an ugly night in the faceoff department, as New Jersey won 61% of the game’s draws.