The Florida Panthers losing streak is at three after they fell by a 5-1 count to the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center in the return of Tomas Nosek to the active lineup.
New Jersey got goals from five different players – Arseny Gritsyuk, Dougie Hamilton, Cody Glass, Dawson Mercer and Simon Nemec – and former Panther Jacob Markstrom stopped 20 of 21 shots faced as the Devils struck another blow to Florida’s fading playoff chances.
After Gritsyuk opened the scoring 12:10 into first period, choosing to shoot on a 2-on-1 with Olympic hero Jack Hughes, Anton Lundell notched the Panthers only goal of the night 2:27 later, roofing the rebound of Evan Rodriguez’ shot from the right point, with the secondary assist going to Uvis Balinskis.
The goal was a milestone for the 24-year-old Lundell, as it gave him 200 points in the NHL.
Hamilton scored the go-ahead goal 1:35 into second, from Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt, with the teams skating 4-on-4 and Glass’ tip-in at 8:13 put the Cats in a hole they would not be able to dig out of.
The desperate Panthers pulled Bobrovsky with over four minutes remaining in regulation and Mercer found the empty net unassisted at 16:23. Nemec would complete the scoring with Bobrvosky again on the bench, with Jack Hughes and Connor Brown each getting their second assist of the game.
Florida played a solid first period, but the two goals 6:38 apart early in the second did them in. The Panthers are now ten points behind the Boston Bruins, who edged Pittsburgh 2-1, with just 21 games left on the schedule to close the gap. Do you believe in miracles? Not this time…
The Five Hole
- Anton Lundell’s goal was his 17th of the season, matching the number he scored in 79 games last season. He is one way from equaling his career-high set in his rookie season in 2021-22.
- Lundell, Sam Bennett and defenseman Gustav Forsling paced the Panthers by registering three shots on goal apiece.
- Sergei Bobrovsky bounced back from the rough outing against the Islanders to deliver a solid start against the Devils. Bobrovsky finished the game with 28 saves.
- Tomas Nosek logged 10:21 of ice time in season debut and was credited with two hits and a blocked shot.
- A.J. Greer dished out a game-high seven hits in 9:34 TOI. Rookie Sandis Vilmanis was right behind him with five.
Stat Card
