Sam Reinhart scored twice, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves as the Florida Panthers defeated the New Jersey Devils 4-2 on Saturday night, extending the first-place Devils’ losing streak to five games.
Gustav Forsling and Carter Verhaege also found the net, and Aaron Ekblad contributed two assists for Florida. The Panthers have beaten the Devils five times in their last six meetings and improved to 4-1-0 in their last five visits to the Prudential Center. Bobrovsky, making his sixth consecutive start, recorded his 343rd career victory and improved his record against New Jersey to 18-5-1.
“I feel good, I’ve got some rhythm,” said the 34-year-old Bobrovsky, who ranks third among active goaltenders in wins. “The guys did a great job to compete. We are building chemistry.”
Erik Haula scored a goal and had an assist, and John Marino also scored for the Devils, who are 0-4-1 during their current skid. Akira Schmid made 25 saves in the loss.
“Our group as a whole has to be better,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. “We didn’t have enough puck management.”
Reinhart scored with a power-play goal at 8:54 of the first period, finishing off a passing sequence with Aleksander Barkov and Ekblad. Barkov didn’t play the final two periods due to an undisclosed injury sustained in the first.
Forsling extended the Panthers’ lead to 2-0 at 7:49 of the second with his fifth goal of the season. Marino got the Devils on the board with 8:33 left in the middle period, firing a long shot past Bobrovsky for his third goal. Jack Hughes assisted on the play, increasing his team lead to 36 points (16 goals, 20 assists).
Reinhart restored the two-goal lead with 41 seconds remaining in the second, tipping a shot by Ekblad past Schmid for his 11th goal of the season.
“Getting one early was key,” Ekblad said. We got our lead and found a way to protect it.”
Haula cut the Devils’ deficit to 3-2 with 3 1/2 minutes remaining in the third with his second goal of the season, but Verhaeghe’s empty-netter, his team-leading 16th goal, with 1:11 left secured the Panthers’ victory.
“I’m really proud of our team. We fought hard,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “And our goaltender was really good.”
The Devils face a challenging stretch with visits to Carolina and Florida followed by two straight home games against league-best Boston before and after the Christmas break.
Ruff expressed confidence that his team’s slump can be solved by focusing on what made them successful in the season’s first two months—generating offense from effective defense.
“Our strength is how we play defensively,” Ruff said. “We can’t get away from it. That’s been the backbone of our team.”
STRUGGLING
New Jersey has scored just four goals in its last three games, all defeats at home—including a 2-1 loss to Philadelphia on Thursday and a 4-1 defeat by Dallas on Tuesday. Before that, the Devils lost 4-3 in overtime at the New York Rangers on Monday and started their losing streak with a 6-4 loss at home to the Islanders last Friday. They had won 21 of 24 after losing their first two games of the season before their current skid.
New Jersey’s lead in the Metropolitan Division was reduced to two points following Carolina’s overtime win over Dallas on Saturday.
MILESTONE
Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton played in his 700th career game.
UP NEXT
- Panthers: At Boston on Monday night.
- Devils: At Carolina on Tuesday night.
