Florida Panthers come up short, lose to the New Jersey Devils 2-1

The Florida Panthers were coming off a win in Buffalo, ultimately looking to extend their winning streak to two. Would the Cats come up big?

The Panthers got off to a slow start (like last game) and were spending an awful lot of time in their own zone. New Jersey were applying loads of pressure in Panthers territory and it was James Reimer who was there to keep the game scoreless.

Reimer’s efforts would only last so long as defenseman Damon Severson threw a shot to the net from the point, deflecting off of Keith Yandle’s leg and in. The goal would come at the six-minute mark and would put the Devils up by one.

Immediately after New Jersey’s goal, the Cats changed the outlook of the game and were starting to look like a different team. Florida started to pick up the pace and were creating scoring chances down low in the Devil’s zone. The Panthers came awfully close to tying the game, but Schneider wouldn’t budge. The Cats would head into the locker room a goal down after one.

The way Florida left off in the first, was the way they started the second. The Cats continued to press and chip away in the Devil’s zone, but ultimately found no luck. It was Kyle Palmieri who found luck for his side as he put his team up by two. No matter how hard the Panthers were playing, they just couldn’t find the back of the net.

Although, Nick Bjugstad did! Big Nick pounced on a rebound from Matheson’s point shot, moving the puck to his forehand and raising the puck home after an initial save was made by Cory Schneider. Bjugstad’s goal was his third of the season and would cut the Devils lead in half:

The Panthers didn’t stop there and were anxious to tie the game. Unfortunately, Schneider decided to stand on his head and preserve his sides lead after two periods. The third period would await for the Cats as they looked to even out the game.

Similar to the last two periods, as many scoring chances as Florida created, not one would find the back of the net. The Panthers came extremely close to leveling out the game on these two occasions below:

Cory Schneider would close out the game with 32 saves and the New Jersey Devils would hang on to win the game (2-1) . The Panthers were unable to build on their last game (against Buffalo) and would end their road trip with a loss.

Overall, the effort tonight was good and the Panthers truly ran into a hot goaltender. Defense has looked better as of late and have eliminated those 4+ goal nights. The Florida Panthers travel back home to take on the Dallas Stars @7:30pm on Tuesday, November 14th.