Devils Run Down Panthers

     The New Jersey Devils burned the Florida Panthers 5-1 at Prudential Center on Tuesday night. The Cats continued their four-game road swing. Both clubs have two of the three worst records in the Eastern Conference. 

     New Jersey(30-29-2) had a 1-0 lead with 7:50 remaining in the first period. Connor Brown stole the puck from Uvis Balinskis at the red lint and poked it ahead. Arseny Gritsyuk carried the puck in the Panthers zone and snapped a shot from the inner left circle past Sergei Bobrovsky for his 10th career NHL goal. 

     Florida(30-28-3) evened it up 1-1 with 5:23 to go in the first. Balinskis pushed the puck from the blue line and Evan Rodrigues took a turnaround shot from the right point. Anton Lundell then backhanded a shot from the top of the crease by Jacob Markstrom for his 17th goal this season. 

     In the second period, the Devils regained the lead 2-1 at the 1:35 mark during a 4-on-4 situation. Jesper Bratt centered the puck from the right wing and Jack Hughes fired a shot from the high slot that went off the end wall. Dougie Hamilton put in a wrist shot from the low right circle for his ninth goal in 2025-26. 

     New Jersey expanded their lead to 3-1 at 8:13 of the second. Hamilton angled a pass from the top of the zone. Lenni Hameenaho released a shot from the right point and Cody Glass redirected the puck from the crease area for 14th goal of the year. 

     The Panthers pulled their goalie for an extra skater several times late in the third period. The Devils were able to score twice to make it 5-1. Dawson Mercer shot the puck into an empty net for his 14th goal of the season with 3:37 remaining in the third. Simon Nemec added an empty-net goal from the slot area with 39.3 seconds left in the period.