Panthers Eliminated By Devils

    The Florida Panthers had a chance to win their first playoff series since 1996, but they were defeated in  double overtime by the New Jersey Devils 3-2 in game seven at the Bank Atlantic Center on Thursday night. The Devils win the best-of-seven series 4-3. It ends the Panthers best season since their finest campaign in 1995-96. For the first time in franchise history, the Florida Panthers hosted a game seven at home.
    The Panthers had only played in one game seven. That was in the 1996 Eastern Conference Finals in Pittsburgh where they defeated the Penguins 3-1 and advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals.
    The Devils almost scored on their first attempt just a two minutes into the game as David Clarkson hit the left post with a shot from the left of the crease. Clarkson was crushed against the right-corner boards by Ed Jovanovski several seconds later.
    New Jersey was able to get the first goal of the game as Anton Volchenkov fired a slap shot from the left point. Adam Henrique redirected the puck in the crease area by Jose Theodore at 1:29 for a 1-0 lead.
    The Devils got the first four straight shots on goal in the game until Stephen Weiss put a shot on net from the low left circle at 5:53. Florida outshot their opponent 12-9 in the first period.
    Florida fell behind 2-0 midway through the second period. Ryan Carter raced around the Panthers cage and passed to Peter Harrold on the right point. He ripped a shot that was stopped by Stephen Gionta in the slot area. He put the puck to his backhand and scored at 9:15.
    The Panthers had only one shot for the first 18 minutes of the second period which was a shot by Sean Bergenheim from the top right circle at 5:14.  They had one other shot in the period at 18:30 by Tomas Fleischmann from the high slot at 18:30. New Jersey had 11 shots in the second period.
     Panthers coach Kevin Dineen decided to switch personnel on all his four forward lines at the start of the third period. It seemed to add a spark to the team. A Panthers goal was disallowed at 1:50 when Shawn Matthias was called for goaltender interference after Mike Weaver blasted a slap shot from the right point.
    Florida kept the pressure on and was able to cut the lead to 2-1 at 5:02 on a four-on-three power play tally. Stephen Weiss had a give-and-go pass with Brian Campbell at the top of the zone. Weiss then took a one-time slap shot from the top right circle and put it by Martin Brodeur.
    Marek Zidlicky was called for delay of game for flipping the puck over the glass in his own defensive zone at 16:12. The Panthers were able to capitalize on the unique situation. Bergenheim took a wrist shot from the edge of the right circle and Brodeur made the initial save. Marcel Goc skated in from right side of the crease and scored on the power play at 16:32. The game was tied at the end of regulation.
    In overtime, Kris Versteeg was called for slashing at 3:21. New Jersey had two shots on the power play but were unable to get the puck by Theodore. Scottie Upshall had the best shot for the Panthers from the low crease that was saved with 1:35 remaining in the first overtime. The Panthers had twelve shots on goal in the first overtime while Devils had nine.
    The game went into a second overtime and New Jersey was able to bottle up Florida in their own defensive zone. The Panthers tried to clear the puck through the left side and it popped up into the air at the top right circle. Henrique caught the puck, placed it down on the ice and sent a shot from the high slot area through the legs of Theodore for the game-winning goal at 3:47.