The New Jersey Devils lost 2-1 in a shootout to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night at The Rock. The Devils played a solid game, limiting chances, particularly in the first and second periods, but had a few missed offensive opportunities that sent the game to overtime and then a shootout. The Devils grabbed an important extra point and sit at 26-15-5 on the season. With the win, Florida improved to 26-16-3.
Game Recap
Period One
The Devils took a penalty just 30 seconds into the game but killed it without allowing any dangerous looks.
Play was very choppy early, with frequent icings and offsides disrupting the flow.
The Devils got a power play a few minutes later, after Mackie Samoskevich was called for holding. With the man advantage, the Devils tallied the first shot of the game for either team, which Spencer Knight saved.
New Jersey started to pick up the pace and generated a few good looks at the net near the halfway point of the period.
Both teams played tight defense, and the second half of the frame was uneventful.
The Devils outshot the Panthers 6-5 through 20 minutes.
Period Two
The Devils had the slight edge early in the period and forced Knight to make a strong save on an unimpeded Jonas Siegenthaler shot from the circle.
The Panthers had a brief push and put a few shots on Jacob Markstrom, but the Devils defended well and prevented dangerous looks.
The teams exchanged o-zone possessions and Markstrom made his best save of the night to extinguish an offensive surge by Florida.
The Devils got a great look on a two-on-one created by Timo Meier, but couldn’t cash in. They had another grade-A opportunity, but Dawson Mercer couldn’t corral a pass and capitalize on a wide-open net.
New Jersey had a late push, but the game remained scoreless as time expired.
The Devils were outshot 11-9 in the period.
Period Three
The Panthers opened the scoring just 41 seconds into the third with a goal by former Devil, Jesper Boqvist. Dougie Hamilton got drawn out of position, leaving Boqvist open in front of Markstrom. Carter Verhaeghe and Nate Schmidt had the assists.
New Jersey answered right back at 2:27 thanks to Nico Hischier’s team-leading 20th goal of the season. Hischier went to work along the boards and fired a shot toward the net that deflected in off a Panthers player. Nate Bastian and Meier tallied the assists.
Matthew Tkachuk left his feet to lay a hit on Hischier, which led to a big scrum along the boards. Tkachuk was called for interference and roughing while Siegenthaler was called for roughing.
The Devils could not convert on their ensuing power play.
Florida surged following their successful penalty kill, but Markstrom came up big to keep the game tied.
Brett Pesce made a phenomenal play to steal the puck near the red line and connect with Hischier in the slot, but Knight made the save. The Devils got another great opportunity by Paul Cotter that was denied by Knight.
With time winding down, Hischier connected with Meier for another dangerous opportunity from the slot, but it was blocked before reaching Knight.
Regulation time expired and the Devils secured a point and went to overtime for the third consecutive game.
Overtime
The Panthers had a few one-off opportunities, but the Devils controlled most of the play in three-on-three overtime. Neither team could capitalize, and the game went to a shootout.
Paul Cotter was the only Devil to score in the shootout while Aleksander Barkov and Anton Lundell scored to give Florida the extra point.
The Devils were outshot 28-27 in 65 minutes of action.
Takeaways
Lots to Like
Despite the result, there were a lot of positive takeaways for the Devils on Tuesday night and in the season series against the Panthers. New Jersey went 2-0-1 against the defending Stanley Cup Champions and took five of six available points.
As the defending champions, the Florida Panthers are a perfect gauge to see how New Jersey stacks up against a team that knows how to win in the playoffs, and Devils fans have to be pleased with what they’ve seen from the team.
On offense, New Jersey outscored the Panthers 11-4 in the three contests, minus the shootout. The Devils did a lot of damage against some of Florida’s best defensive players, including last season’s Selke winner, Barkov, who had a +/- of -3 in the series. While +/- can be misleading in some cases, it, at the very least, indicates that New Jersey was able to effectively execute against a top defensive forward in the league.
Equally impressive was the defensive patience the Devils exhibited in each game. For the most part, they didn’t try to force plays and were comfortable being in their own zone. They forced the Panthers to the outside and protected the dangerous areas of the ice. In fact, excluding the shootout, Boqvist and Sam Reinhart were the only two Panthers to score against the Devils.
Additionally, they matched the physicality that Florida loves to play with. Grit and nastiness are two qualities that the Devils lacked in previous seasons, but it’s a completely different story this year. Brenden Dillon and Kurtis MacDermid both racked up fighting majors in the first two contests of the season. While there wasn’t a fight on Tuesday night, the Devils finished their checks and aggressively expressed their displeasure with Tkachuk after his hit on Hischier.
While it would be nice to sweep the season series, there isn’t much to complain about, with the only loss for New Jersey resulting from a shootout.
Shootouts
Shootouts have been a dreaded sight for Devils fans in the past decade-plus. Regardless of the copious talent on the ice, New Jersey cannot seem to conquer them. Since the 2020-21 season, they have a brutal 5-17 record in games decided by a shootout.
Thankfully for the Devils, they don’t have too many shootouts throughout a season. Tuesday’s loss was their first attempt so far in 2024-25, so it’s not a pressing concern. Nonetheless, it couldn’t hurt to try some new faces on the ice should the Devils find themselves in another shootout.
Cotter, for example, was a pleasant surprise as he made a filthy move to fool Knight and light the lamp.
Based on point totals alone, he isn’t an obvious choice for that situation, but he showed off some great skill to give New Jersey a fighting chance. If the opportunity presents itself again, maybe the Devils will look to some other unlikely candidates to try and earn an elusive shootout victory.
Up Next
The Devils are back in action on Thursday night when they travel north of the border to close out the season series with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Maple Leafs sit one spot behind the Devils in 3rd in the Eastern Conference and 1st in the Atlantic Division. They have a 27-16-2 record and a 6-4-0 record in their past ten. They have dropped three consecutive games, including a 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.
New Jersey is 0-1-1 against Toronto this season, having lost 4-2 on October 10th and 2-1 in overtime on December 10th.
Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. EST on MSGSN2.
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