Panthers Lose To Devils In Season Finale

     The Florida Panthers wrapped up their 25th season in the National Hockey League and lost to the New Jersey Devils 4-3 in overtime at BB&T Center on Saturday night. Aleksander Barkov broke a Florida Panthers club record as he got his 95th point of the season during the contest. Pavel Bure had the team record with 94 points back in 1999-2000.
     New Jersey(31-41-10) moved out to a 1-0 lead at the 1:27n mark of the first period. Will Butcher sent a lead pass from the left point to Nico Hischer in the left circle. His cross-ice pass went through the slot and Nathan Bastian pounded a one-time shot by Roberto Luongo.
     In the second period, the Devils made it 2-0 at 7:41. Egor Yakovlev slapped a shot from the low left circle and Bastian redirected it from the top of the crease for his second goal of the contest. Blake Coleman picked up the secondary assist.
     Florida(36-32-14) cut the deficit to 2-1 with 8:02 remaining in the second. Jonathan Huberdeau handed the puck off to Barkov at the red line. He skated into the Devils zone toward the right circle and snapped a shot past MacKenzie Blackwood for his 35th goal and 95th point of the campaign. Huberdeau chalked up his 62nd assist and 91th point of the season.
     The Devils regained a two-goal margin with 5:31 left. Pavel Zacha skated through the right circle and around Aaron Ekblad. He went to the crease area and scored on a forehand shot for his 13th goal of the year. Joey Anderson and Kevin Rooney were credited with assists on the play.
     The Panthers stayed in the game with 3:25 left in the third period and trailed 3-2. Evgenii Dadonov had the puck behind the Devils cage and backhanded it in front. Jonathan Huberdeau put in a wrist shot from the low slot for his 30th goal.
     The Cats pulled Luongo from net for an extra attacker with two minutes to go. It worked as they tied the contest with 1:25 left in regulation. Barkov retrieved the puck from the end wall and backhanded it to the top slot. Mike Hoffman ripped a slap shot for his 36th tally and 300th NHL point.
     New Jersey won the game in overtime on the power play. Travis Zajac found the net with a snap shot from the slot area 56 seconds in on a feed from Damon Severson located at the left wing.