Monday, October 14, 2019

Panthers Speed By Devils

     The Florida Panthers overcame a three-goal deficit and topped the New Jersey Devils 6-4 at Prudential Center on Monday afternoon. It was the final game of a three-game road trip for the Panthers in which they went 1-0-2. 
     Florida(2-2-2) raced out to a 1-0 lead just 16 seconds into the contest on their first shot on goal. Aleksander Barkov tapped the puck from the left corner and Jonathan Huberdeau banked it off the end wall. Evgenii Dadonov made a backhand pass from below the right circle and Huberdeau stroked the puck into the cage by Cory Schneider from the blue paint. It was his first goal of the year and Barkov's fourth assist. 
     New Jersey(0-4-2) answered back quickly at 2:28. Pavel Zacha made a drop pass at the right point. Taylor Hall skated to the middle and snapped a shot from the high slot past Sergei Bobrovsky for his first goal of the season. Sami Vatanen got the secondary assist on a clearing pass from his own zone.
     The Devils took the lead 2-1 with 46.7 seconds remaining in the first period. Nikita Gusev sailed the puck from the right wing around the end wall to the left side. Anton Stralman tried to send the puck up the boards and it nicked off the skate of Zacha. Jesper Bratt carried it through the low left circle and lifted a backhand shot from the left of the crease.
     The scoring avalanche continued for New Jersey early in the second period as they lit the lamp twice on their first three shots. Will Butcher scored 32 seconds in and Zacha got a tally at the 1:08 mark for a 4-1 lead.
     Brett Connolly picked up his first goal as a member of the Panthers midway through the frame at 9:50. P.K. Subban turned the puck over in the right corner. Frank Vatrano whipped a pass to the top right circle and Connolly scored on a wrist shot.
     The Cats struck again with 7.5 seconds left in the second and closed the gap to 4-3. Vincent Trocheck made a lead outlet pass to Mike Hoffman on the right side. He dropped a pass to Connolly and he rifled a snap shot from the right circle for his second goal of the contest.
     Florida completely erased the deficit 30 seconds into the third period for a 4-4 game. MacKenzie Weeger scored his second goal of the campaign on assists from Aaron Ekblad and Trocheck.
     They regained the lead 5-4 at the 7:30 mark. Weegar fired a slap shot from the top of the zone and it was deflected in by Noel Acciari from the slot area.
     The Devils were called for a high-sticking double-minor penalty and the Panthers capitalized with a power-play goal. Keith Yandle passed it from the blue line to Mike Matheson on the right point. His snap shot from the top right circle was saved by Schneider, but Dadonov reached and pushed in the rebound from the crease. Dadonov chalked up a goal for the fourth straight game and Matherson got his first assist of the season. 

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