Panthers Get By Devils

     The Florida Panthers faced the New Jersey Devils and defeated them 4-3 in overtime on Thursday night at BB&T Center. Jaromir Jagr passed Dave Andreychuk for sixth all-time in NHL history as he played his 1,640 game.
     Florida(5-5-1) scored on their first power-play attempt at 12:58 of the first period. Keith Yandle placed a pass from the top of the zone to Aaron Ekblad at the top left circle and put a one-time slapshot by Cory Schneider for his second goal of the year.
     The Panthers got four shots on their second power play of the contest and eventually scored at 6:44 of the second period. Jason Demers made a slap pass to Denis Malgin at the right circle. He skated in a snapped a shot for his second straight game with a tally.
     New Jersey(4-2-3) broke the shutout on the power play with 1:56 left in the second. Kyle Palmieri received the puck on the left wing and took a slapshot. After it went off a screen in the crease area, Travis Zajac ripped a shot from the slot past James Reimer.
     Both clubs came up strong to begin the third period as Florida extended their margin to 3-1 at 4:29. Mark Pysyk sent a cross-ice pass to Jagr who was entering the Devils zone on the right point. He skated around two players in the right circle and fed Vincent Trocheck at the inner left circle for a quick shot.
     It was a fast response by New Jersey as they scored just twenty seconds later. John Moore got to a loose puck on the end wall and backhanded it out. P.A. Parenteau followed with a wrist shot from the right circle for his second goal against the Cats this season.
     The Devils were able to tie the game 3-3 with 3:55 to go in the third. Beau Bennett was in the right circle and rifled a cross-ice pass to Pavel Zacha in the left circle for a blast and his first goal of the season.
     The Cats picked up the victory after both teams had great scoring chances during the overtime period. Florida came in on a 3-on-1 break into the Devils zone when Reilly Smith angled the puck to Trocheck on the right side. He waited for a second then squeezed a snap shot from the right-circle dot by Schneider for the winning goal with 43.4 seconds to go.