Panthers-Devils Playoff Preview

After winning their first division championship in the franchise history last Saturday, the Southeast Division champion Florida Panthers will play their first playoff tonight at the Bank Atlantic Center against the New Jersey Devils. The last time the Panthers were in the postseason was in 1999-2000 when they were swept by the Devils in four straight games. Martin Brodeur and Patrick Elias are the only players from New Jersey that were involved in the 2000 first-round series that will participate for their team in this upcoming series. Brodeur will start his 171st consecutive playoff game in net. He has started every playoff game for the Devils since 1994. He will look for his 100th career playoff win tonight versus Florida. Former Devils center John Madden also played in that series, but he will part of the Panthers team in the 2012 match up. Florida broke in an NHL futility streak last Thursday night as they clinched a playoff spot for the first time in 12 years. The Cats have not won a playoff game since April 17, 1997, game one of the first round against the New York Rangers. Florida has a record of 2-1 in the first game of the playoffs and 4-2 in the first game of a playoff series. After 637 regular season games, Panthers captain Stephen Weiss will play in his first playoff game. He joined the team at the end of the 2001-02 season.