Florida Panthers: New Jersey Devils in Town to Extend Misery
Tonight at 7:00 P.M., the Florida Panthers host the New Jersey Devils at BB&T Center.
This is the second of three contests this season between the two. New Jersey won the first, 3-2 on October 27th at the Prudential Center. They’ll close the series against the Florida Panthers on April 6th, back in Sunrise, Florida.
The Panthers have now lost three straight games and five of their last six after a five-game winning streak. Tonight’s game is the second in an eight-game homestand.
They lost the first one in heartbreaking fashion to the Chicago Blackhawks, 5-4 in overtime on Saturday night.
After this game, they’ll host the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday, the Buffalo Sabres on Friday, the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday, the Boston Bruins next Tuesday, the Colorado Avalanche next Thursday, and the New York Rangers next Saturday night.
The Devils are playing in the second game of a three-game road trip, and the second night of a back-to-back.
New Jersey lost to the Lightning last night, 5-2, and after tonight’s game, they get four days to recuperate before visiting the defending Stanley Cup Champion Washington Capitals on Friday night.
When Last We Met
The last time the Panthers played the Devils was on October 27th earlier this season. With 15,927 in the house at Prudential Center, the 4-2-1 Devils defeated the 2-3-3 Panthers by a 3-2 final score.
Scott Mellanby notched four assists, Terry Carkner and Johan Garpenlov had two each, and Ed Jovanovski, Paul Laus, Bill Lindsay, Kirk Muller, and Chris Wells also earned assists in the game. John Vanbiesbrouck turned aside 32-of-37 shots for the victory.
Standings
Florida Panthers: 8-9-4, 20 points, .476 points percentage, on pace for 78 points. Seventh in the Atlantic Division, 15th in the Eastern Conference, 26th in the NHL. Last Five: L-W-L-L-O, playoff odds: 14.5%.
New Jersey Devils: 9-10-3, 21 points, .477 points percentage, on pace for 78 points. Eighth in the Metropolitan Division, 14th in the Eastern Conference, 25th in the NHL. Last Five: O-L-W-L-L, playoff odds: 31.3%.
Starting Lineup
Florida Panthers
63–16–68
11–27–7
72–90–22
73–91–18
34 (unconfirmed)
New Jersey Devils
Taylor Hall – Nico Hischier – Kyle Palmieri
Marcus Johansson – Pavel Zacha – Jesper Bratt
Blake Coleman – Travis Zajac – Miles Wood
Brian Boyle – Brent Seney – Stefan Noesen
Andy Greene – Damon Severson
Egor Yakovlev – Sami Vatanen
Will Butcher – Ben Lovejoy
Keith Kinkaid (unconfirmed)
Injury Report
Florida Panthers
Roberto Luongo is out with a lower-body injury, and Michael Hutchinson has been recalled to fill his roster spot.
Derek MacKenzie is on the IR with a shoulder injury.
Jamie McGinn had back surgery and is not expected back soon.
Vincent Trocheck has a fractured right ankle and had surgery to fix it up. He expects to get back this season.
New Jersey Devils
Joey Anderson is on the IR with a lower-body injury.
Steven Santini has a broken jaw and is also on the IR.
Sami Vatanen is on the IR with a lower-body injury as well.
Milestones
Florida Panthers
Games: Alexander Petrovic‘s next game will move him past Mike Weaver into 42nd on the all-time list with 247. Aleksander Barkov‘s next game, his 353rd, will tie him with Tom Fitzgerald in 19th place.
Goals: Evgeni Dadonov will tie Marcus Nilson and Shawn Matthias in 31st with his 48th goal the next time he lights the lamp. Aaron Ekblad, with his next, will tie Kristian Huselius in 18th with his 58th.
Nick Bjugstad will tie David Booth in 13th with his next marker, his 87th. Jonathan Huberdeau’s next goal will be his 100th. He needs two to tie Rob Niedermayer and Viktor Kozlov in eighth all-time.
Assists: Dadonov needs two assists to tie him in 40th with Ray Sheppard and Dave Lowry, with 60. Keith Yandle is tied with Gord Murphy in 17th all-time, with 100.
Points: Dadonov’s next point will give him 106, moving him past Mike Van Ryn into 38th. Yandle’s next will give him 118, moving him into sole possession of 33rd place, past Jesse Belanger and Michael Frolik. Aaron Ekblad has 142 points and will pass Gord Murphy into 20th with his next. Barkov’s next point will give him 268, tying him in eighth with Radek Dvorak.
New Jersey Devils
Games: Nico Hischier will start in his 100th game for the Devils tonight.
Goals: Taylor Hall, with 66 Devils’ goals, is tied with Ron Delorme and Lanny McDonald in 43rd all-time. He’ll tie Greg Adams with his next. Kyle Palmieri is currently tied with Gary Croteau in 29th with 92 markers and will tie Scott Stevens with his next.
Assists: Damon Severson will move into the Devils’ top 50 with his next assist his 87th, tying John Van Boxmeer. Hall needs two assists to tie Colin White in 42nd, with 105.
Points: Hall also sits in 43rd place with 169 points, and will tie David Clarkson in 42nd with his next. Travis Zajac is sixth all-time with 475 points and will tie Scott Niedermayer in fifth with his next.
Stat Leaders
Florida Panthers
Games: Aaron Ekblad, Nick Bjugstad, Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, Keith Yandle, Evgeni Dadonov, Mike Hoffman – 21
Goals: Mike Hoffman – 11, Evgeni Dadonov – 9, Frank Vatrano, Aleksander Barkov – 7
Assists: Keith Yandle – 16, Jonathan Huberdeau – 15, Vincent Trocheck, Aleksander Barkov, Evgeni Dadonov, Mike Hoffman – 11
Points: Mike Hoffman – 22, Keith Yandle, Evgeni Dadonov – 20
Plus-Minus: Nick Bjugstad +3, Michael Haley, Denis Malgin, Colton Sceviour +2
Hits: Alexander Petrovic – 56, Vincent Trocheck – 36, Troy Brouwer – 35
Blocked Shots: Mike Matheson – 33, Alexander Petrovic – 32, MacKenzie Weegar – 26
Shots-on-Goal: Mike Hoffman – 78, Aleksander Barkov – 59, Evgeni Dadonov – 56
Faceoff Percentage: Aleksander Barkov – 54.1%, Vincent Trocheck – 53.9%, Nick Bjugstad – 51.8%, Juho Lammikko – 45.5%, Jared McCann – 44.3%
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New Jersey Devils
Games: Andy Greene, Miles Wood, Will Butcher, Blake Coleman, Damon Severson, Kyle Palmieri, Taylor Hall – 22
Goals: Kyle Palmieri – 12, Brian Boyle, Blake Coleman, Travis Zajac, Taylor Hall – 7
Assists: Taylor Hall – 16, Damon Severson – 11, Nico Hischier, Kyle Palmieri – 9
Points: Taylor Hall – 23, Kyle Palmieri – 21, Damon Severson, Travis Zajac – 14
Plus-Minus: Ben Lovejoy, Blake Coleman +6, Travis Zajac +3
Hits: Blake Coleman – 53, Brian Boyle – 39, Damon Severson, Miles Wood – 37
Blocked Shots: Andy Greene – 63, Sami Vatanen – 32, Ben Lovejoy – 29
Shots-on-Goal: Taylor Hall – 78, Kyle Palmieri – 67, Blake Coleman – 59
Faceoff Percentage: Travis Zajac – 55.4%, Pavel Zacha – 47.4%, Nico Hischier – 41.4%
Birthdays
Former Florida Panthers defenseman Keith Ballard played every game of the 2008-09 and 2009-10 season. He scored 14 goals and 48 assists while collecting a plus-7 rating on a mostly below average team. Ballard turns 36 today.
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