Florida Panthers center Sam Reinhart continues his point scoring streak to nine games with a goal in the second period against the New Jersey Devils Thursday night in Sunrise.
However, the Panthers lost 6-2. Jesper Bratt had a hat trick for the Devils. The Stanley Cup Champions have now lost two in a row to the Devils.
Reinhart has six goals in his last six games. The Panthers have won four of them. As Reinhart goes, so go the Panthers.
The goal tied the score at 2. Captain Alekksander Barkov won a faceoff in the offensive end and threw the puck out to Reinhart at the left point. Reinhart hit a one-timer which caught the back of the net past goaltender Jake Allen.
The Panthers were trailing 4-2 at the end of the second period as the Devils scored three power play goals. The Panthers special teams usually carry the day, but the Devils were perfect with the man advantage.
After practice on Tuesday, Panthers coach Paul Maurice lauded his special teams. The Panthers are one of the best penalty killing teams in the league. They also score on many of their power plays, but Thursday night was not the case.
"Im really happy with our special teams, but I don't love winning games early in the year on your power play," Maurice said. "It can kind of fool you into thinking you are playing better than you really are.
"But our penalty kill has been very strong. I think it's only two under the bar right now," Maurice said. "So there's a stretch there where we'd scored as many shorties as we've given up. I think our team's game is actually pretty good."