Sam Reinhart scored twice during Florida’s four-goal third period, leading the Panthers to a 4-2 comeback victory over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night.
Aleksander Barkov added a goal and an assist, tying former teammate Jonathan Huberdeau for the franchise career points record 613.
Matthew Tkachuk also scored, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 33 saves. The Panthers maintained their position in the Eastern Conference wild-card race, extending their points streak to six games (5-0-1).
“I liked our bounce-back in the third,” Reinhart said. “We started moving our feet, creating chances, and capitalizing. It was a back-and-forth night, and they hung on. … This is the most fun time to play. You could sense the atmosphere from the start. Fans know the position we are in. We’re enjoying the battle.”
Nico Hischier and Jesper Boqvist scored for New Jersey in the second period, while rookie goalie Akira Schmid made 37 saves. The Devils have now lost three straight games.
“Just a couple of big breakdowns. I’m embarrassed by what we did to our goaltender,’’ said Devils coach Lindy Ruff. “After recovering from a tough first period and playing such a good second period, to do that to ourselves is more than a punch in the gut.”
Hischier scored with a shorthanded goal, intercepting a pass and charging in on Bobrovsky at 2:16 of the second period.
Five minutes later, Boqvist scored with Bobrovsky and a couple of his teammates down on the ice after the goalie’s previous save.
“The second period wasn’t what we wanted, but we had one hell of a first, and we wanted to get back to that,’’ Tkachuk said. “I thought we played a really strong 50 minutes — some of the second we would like back. But that third period is how we want to play.”
Florida got on the board at 6:14 of the third period in an odd play where Brandon Montour’s shot hit Marc Staal and dropped onto Barkov’s stick for the goal.
The Panthers then scored twice within a minute, with Reinhart deflecting a Montour shot past Schmid at 7:54 and Tkachuk beating Schmid off a backhander following a pass from Carter Verhaeghe.
Reinhart added an empty-net goal, with Barkov assisting in tying Huberdeau.
UP NEXT
- Devils: Visit Tampa Bay on Sunday night.
- Panthers: Travel to Detroit on Monday night.
