The Florida Panthers picked up their second home win in a row on Thursday, defeating the New Jersey Devils 4-1. Spencer Knight led the Panthers to a win Thursday night, stopping a career-high 45 of 46 shots on net. Jonathan Huberdeau and Anthony Duclair each had a goal and an assist. With the win, the Panthers improve to 12-2-3, and 9-0-0 on home ice, the best home-ice record in the NHL.
First Period:
The Devils opened up the game dominating shots, overall outshooting the Panthers 22-13 in the period. Dougie Hamilton would get the first goal of the night at 13:37 in the period when PK Subban and Jimmy Vesey would set Hamilton up for a wrister that went off the short side past Knight. The Panthers answered and would tie the game at one with seven seconds left to go in the period when Carter Verhaeghe would put the puck past Mackenzie Blackwood, with MacKenzie Weegar getting the assist.
Second Period:
The Panthers would continue the momentum going into the second period, blowing the game wide open fairly quickly. Florida would score two goals in 1:17 from Eetu Luostarinen and Jonathan Huberdeau to make it 3-1 with 4:25 gone in the period. Anthony Duclair would add a third goal in the period at 8:15 when he went out in front and put it past Blackwood to make it 4-1. After allowing four goals in a span of 8:20 in two periods, MacKenzie Blackwood was pulled for Jonathan Bernier.
Third Period:
The game would slow down substantially in the period, with no goals scored. Jonathan Bernier would stop all 14 shots taken in the period.
Other Notes:
- With Florida’s win Thursday night, they extend their home winning streak to 13 games, dating back to last season.
- The 13th consecutive home regular-season win for the Panthers tied them for the 20th-longest streak in NHL history. It’s the longest since the Toronto Maple Leafs also won 13 in a row on home ice from Jan. 31 through March 24, 2018. Florida’s longest previous home regular-season win streak was an eight-game run from Feb. 22 through March 10, 2018.
- Anthony Duclair: “We put an emphasis on playing well at home. We want to put an honest effort every time we play here and we want to keep it going here at home.”
Next Up:
The Florida Panthers will continue their homestand on Saturday night against the Minnesota Wild. Meanwhile, the New Jersey Devils will travel up to Tampa Bay to face the Lightning on Saturday night.