The Florida Panthers capped off their three-game road trip with a dramatic comeback victory, rallying from a three-goal deficit to defeat the New Jersey Devils 6-4 on Monday night.
After earning points in the first two games of their trip with third-period comebacks, the Panthers did it again in New Jersey. Mackenzie Weegar scored the tying goal and set up Noel Acciari’s go-ahead tally, completing the Panthers’ comeback.
“It turned out to be a good trip for us, and there were many positive things in the third period,” said Panthers coach Joel Quenneville. “We might have played our best period of the season in the third.”
Meanwhile, the Devils dropped to 0-4-2, suffering another tough loss in front of their home crowd.
“No one sees this coming,” said Devils forward Taylor Hall, who scored in the game. “Hockey’s strange that way. You can have a lot of optimism before the season and a great training camp and then start like we have. It’s disheartening for sure.”
Brett Connolly scored twice for the Panthers, and Jonathan Huberdeau and Evgenii Dandonov added goals as they snapped a three-game losing streak. Sergei Bobrovsky made 17 saves, improving his career record against the Devils to 17-5-1.
Pavel Zacha, Jesper Bratt, and Will Butcher scored for the Devils, while Cory Schneider made 28 saves.
Weegar tied the game 4-4 just 30 seconds into the third period with a shot from the point through traffic.
“Getting that goal right away gave us momentum, and we kept pushing,” Weegar said. “We ended up getting the two points that we needed.”
Acciari then put the Panthers ahead at 7:30 of the third period by deflecting Weegar’s shot, and Dadonov added a power-play goal at 15:32 to seal the victory.
Zacha set up both of New Jersey’s first-period goals as they took a 2-1 lead. Huberdeau had opened the scoring for Florida just 16 seconds into the game, but Hall and Bratt responded for the Devils.
The Devils extended their lead to 4-1 early in the second period with goals from Butcher and Zacha, but Connolly scored twice in the period to pull the Panthers back into the game.
“You just coach them, and whether you’re winning or losing, your job is to help the group get better,” said Devils coach John Hynes, addressing the mounting pressure on him to turn the team around.
Game notes:
- The Devils’ worst start in franchise history was 0-8-1 in 1974-75 when they were the Kansas City Scouts.
- Panthers defenseman Keith Yandle played in his league-leading 803rd consecutive game.
- The Devils kicked off a season-high six-game homestand with this game.
- Devils center Nico Hischier did not return for the second period, and the team did not provide a medical update.
UP NEXT:
- Panthers: Host Colorado on Friday night.
- Devils: Host New York Rangers on Thursday night.
