The New Jersey Devils lost 1-0 to the Florida Panthers on Thursday night in Sunrise, Florida, suffering their first shutout of the season. The Devils played well, but couldn’t capitalize on the many chances they generated. Both netminders had very strong performances, but Sergei Bobrovsky was the difference and earned Florida the two points. With the loss, the Devils dropped to 13-6-1 while the Panthers improved to 11-8-1.
Game Recap
Period One
The Devils got pinned back early after Simon Nemec’s stick broke, and they had trouble escaping the zone. Eventually, they got the puck out and generated some O-zone time of their own.
New Jersey was sloppy with turnovers in front of Jake Allen, but did okay to support each other and make up for mistakes.
Dougie Hamilton made a nice play along the blue line and fired a shot from distance on Sergei Bobrovsky, who scrambled in the blue paint but made the save.
The Devils were outshooting the Panthers 7-3 at the midway point of the period.
The Panthers scored at 12:58 on their first shot in over nine minutes, with a nice wrist shot by Sam Reinhart, who beat Luke Hughes with a nifty stick move. Gustav Forsling had the lone assist.
Florida had momentum after the goal, and Allen made a few good saves to keep New Jersey’s deficit to one.
The Devils surged after the TV timeout and had a rush of grade-A opportunities that Bobrovsky fought off.
New Jersey outshot the Panthers 12-9 in the opening frame.
Period Two
The Devils had a strong shift to open the second, but couldn’t finish on any of their chances. The Panthers responded with some pressure, but Allen made the saves.
New Jersey had problems finishing chances. They had sustained zone time and good opportunities, but couldn’t get anything to go.
The Panthers had the edge in the second half of the period, but Allen was strong in net.
The Devils had the first power play opportunity of the game for either team with just under four minutes to go in the frame. They had zone time and a few looks, but couldn’t hit the net with the opportunities.
New Jersey went right back to the power play with under two minutes left in the frame, and Nemec beat Bobrovsky but rang the shot off the post on a set play off the faceoff.
The Devils had a flurry of chances, but the period expired, ending the surge. Evan Rodrigues went after Nico Hischier at the whistle, but Hischier landed a few uppercuts and skated away unscathed.
New Jersey was outshot 11-7 in the period.
Period Three
The Panthers killed the rest of the power play.
Luke Hughes had a blast from the circle, but Bobrovsky made the save.
The teams exchanged chances, but the Devils managed some extended zone time. New Jersey’s defense pairings were jumbled near the midway point of the final frame as Hamilton was absent from the bench, but he returned minutes later.
The Panthers’ power play got its first opportunity of the game just past the halfway point of the last period, but the Devils killed it off without allowing much.
Jesper Bratt had a good look off the rush but sent his shot over the net. The Panthers had a few shots from the slot, but Allen made a sprawling save. Hischier had a shot from the point but fired it into Bobrovsky’s chest.
Dennis Cholowski fired a rocket from the blue line that deflected off Bobrovsky’s glove and into the air, but out of danger.
The Devils pulled Allen in favor of the extra attacker with 1:30 left in regulation, but despite numerous chances that forced Bobrovsky to make big saves, they couldn’t grab the tying goal and were shut out for the first time this season.
The Devils outshot Florida 12-4 in the third and 31-24 in the contest.
Takeaways
Cold as Ice
The Devils put together a much better effort than in Tampa Bay a few nights ago, but it unfortunately yielded the same outcome. They played well, only surrendering one goal on a really impressive play by Reinhart.
At the other end of the ice, New Jersey’s offense couldn’t light the lamp, despite the grade-A shots thrown on Bobrovsky.
On one hand, there were promising signs for the Devils. They were strong on pucks in the O-zone and got to the dangerous areas of the ice. They created second opportunities, particularly later in the game, and showed some physicality to knock opponents off the puck.
On the other hand, the lack of offense wasn’t out of the blue. In the past three games, the Devils have managed only four total goals: two at even-strength, one on the power play, and one in a shootout.
There is no denying that Jack Hughes is the key piece that drives New Jersey’s offense, but the team must find reliable ways to score in his absence.
In short, the Devils will need more from everyone. Timo Meier, who opened the season with three goals in the first four games, hasn’t hit the back of the net since November 10th against the New York Islanders and has just two goals after October 18th.
Bratt, though he’s been putting up consistent points, hasn’t had a goal since November 6th.
Additionally, some of the depth players who produced well for the Devils last season are yet to find their game, and there is no better time than now for any number of them to get hot.
Stefan Noesen, Paul Cotter and Ondrej Palat are all sitting on just one goal so far this season. Those players, as well as the rest of the bottom six, have done well in preventing goals and have even generated O-zone time, but they need to find ways to finish those chances and provide some goal support.
Up Next
The Devils look to bounce back on Saturday night in Philadelphia, when they take on the Flyers in a Metropolitan Division showdown.
The Flyers sit seventh in the division with a 10-6-3 record and a 5-3-2 record in their last ten contests. Most recently, they defeated the St. Louis Blues 3-2 in overtime on Thursday night.
Saturday’s game is the first of three meetings between the teams this season.
Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. EST on MSGSN and NBCSP.
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