Timo Meier broke a tie late in the second period, Jacob Markstrom stopped 34 shots, and the New Jersey Devils halted Florida’s seven-game winning streak with a 4-1 win over the Panthers on Tuesday night.
Jack Hughes opened the scoring for New Jersey in the first period, while Paul Cotter extended the Devils’ lead early in the third. Dougie Hamilton and Jesper Bratt each contributed two assists, and Ondrej Palat added an empty-net goal to seal the win.
Markstrom, playing his 498th career game, is nearing the 500-game milestone, a mark only 80 goalies in NHL history have reached.
Sam Reinhart scored his 12th goal for Florida, and Spencer Knight made 20 saves. The Panthers were without forward Sam Bennett, a late scratch with a minor upper-body injury.
Takeaways
Devils: New Jersey’s resilience was again displayed as they returned from a previous loss. The Devils improved to 5-2-1 this season in games following a defeat.
Panthers: This game kicked off a challenging 10-game stretch for Florida, including matchups against top teams like New Jersey (twice), Winnipeg (twice), and Carolina (twice), as well as games against Chicago, Colorado, Washington, and Toronto.
Key Moment
Midway through the second period, Florida’s Jonah Gadjovich and New Jersey’s Brenden Dillon engaged in an intense fight. They traded punches for about 30 seconds, with Dillon eventually bringing Gadjovich to the ice.
Key Stat
The Devils remain perfect this season when leading after two periods, with a 9-0-0 record. NHL teams are 181-4-15 overall in that scenario this season.
Up Next
The teams face off again Thursday night in Sunrise.
