Panthers Breeze By Devils

     The Florida Panthers ran by the New Jersey Devils 5-3 at Prudential Center on Tuesday night. The Panthers have won 16 of their last 18 contests along with their sixth consecutive victory. The Cats were able to complete a three-game sweep on their road trip. 

     It was the Devils first game with new interim head coach Travis Green. Former Florida Panthers assistant coach Lindy Ruff was fired from his post as the Devils head coach on Monday. 

     The Panthers are 14-1-0 in their past 15 road games. They lead the National Hockey League with 23 road victories in 2023-24. 

     Florida(43-16-4) rocketed out to a 1-0 lead at the 2:54 mark of the first period. Matthew Tkachuk pushed the loose puck ahead from outside the Devils blue line.  Nick Cousins skated with it to the inner right circle and backhanded a shot by Akira Schmid for his fourth goal this year. 

     The Cats expanded it to 2-0 at 6:30 with the man advantage. Sam Bennett tapped the puck to Tkachuk on the right wing. He centered it to the middle and Evan Rodrigues one-timed a slap shot from the slot area for his 10th tally this season. 

     New Jersey(30-28-4) closed it to 2-1 with 8:15 left in the first on power-play goal. Luke Hughes angled a pass from the top of the zone and Jesper Bratt connected a pass from the right point. Jack Hughes released a wrist shot from the left point past Anthony Stolarz for his 21st goal of the season. 

     The Devils evened it up 2-2 with 8:59 to go in the second period. Timo Meier was able to score his 14th goal of the campaign on a backhand shot. 

     The Panthers regained the lead 3-2 with 7:23 remaining in the frame. Oliver Ekman-Larsson passed across to Dmitry Kulikov deep in his own zone. Kulikov sent a long lead pass to Luostarinen at the Devils blue line. Luostarinen raced into the zone and snapped a shot from the high slot for his 11th goal in 2023-24. 

     In the third period, Florida stretched the lead to 4-2 at 5:33 mark. Tkachuk dropped a pass from the top of the left circle back to Gustav Forsling at the left point. His forehand shot was redirected in by Cousins on the top of the crease for his second tally of the game and fifth goal this season. Tkachuk collected his third assist of the game. 

     It became 4-3 when New Jersey cut the lead with 8:44 left in the third. Hughes handed the puck off to Jesper Bratt at the right point. He pushed the puck to the middle and Colin Miller scored his fourth goal from the top of the zone. 

     The Panthers wrapped up the game with 7.4 seconds remaining in the period for a 5-3 advantage. Sam Reinhart chalked up his 45th goal of the season as he put in a forehand shot into an empty net from the low slot. Aaron Ekblad was credited with an assist on the play.