panthers game preview

NEW JERSEY DEVILS (26-15-4) vs. FLORIDA PANTHERS (25-16-3)

New Jersey hosts the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Tuesday night at Prudential Center. Puck drop is 7:38 p.m. ET. The game will feature the club's annual Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Night.

You can watch on ESPN+ and Hulu or listen on the Devils Hockey Network.

Read below for your game preview and pre-game story below. Tonight's game is presented by Window Works.

WATCH & LISTEN

TV: ESPN+, Hulu

RADIO: Devils Hockey Network 

Video Player is loading.
Current Time 0:00
Duration 0:00
Loaded: 0%
Stream Type LIVE
Remaining Time 0:00
 
1x
    • Chapters
    • descriptions off, selected
    • captions off, selected

      The Devils look to win three straight against the Panthers

      GAME-DAY VIDEO
      Pre-Game Player Interview: Bratt
      Pre-Game Interview: Sheldon Keefe

      MORNING SKATE RECAP

      NEWARK, NJ - The Devils held an optional morning skate Tuesday before hosting the Florida Panthers. In attendance were forwards Timo Meier, Jesper Bratt, Ondrej Palat, Tomas Tatar, Nathan Bastian, Curtis Lazar and Kurtis MacDermid and goalie Jake Allen.

      There could be some lineup changes when the team faces Florida.

      “We’ve got a game-time decision or two that might impact the group,” head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “We’ll have to see how that plays out tonight.”

      Focused Mind

      The Devils defeated the Panthers in back-to-back games in Florida on Nov. 12 and 14. The team was 3-1-0 entering the two-game series, but the club’s play really seemed to come together in that two-game stretch.

      “It came from every single detail,” Bratt said. “Goaltending was great. Then our play without the puck, we didn’t give up a lot of chances. We played pretty tight and compact. In the D zone we kept them to the outside and we limited their rush chances.

      “We didn’t turn a lot of pucks over. We didn’t feed their offense and skill players to carry through the neutral zone and play offense. We got pucks in behind them.”

      The Devils’ two victories in Florida were the culmination of two months of work to fine tune their game. The result was arguably their best two efforts of the year. It also helped that when you face the defending Stanley Cup champions, it has a way of focusing the mind on the task at hand.

      “You’re building your game and trying to establish a team identity, and you get down to Florida and it’s a daunting task,” Keefe said. “You have two games back-to-back against the Cup champs. That snapped our team into attention out of respect that you have for the opponent and not wanting to get embarrassed. So, you play a good game and execute a game plan. It was very good to serve as a template for us moving forward for what we can look like.”

      The Devils went on quite a run following those games in Florida, a stretch of success that carried into the holiday break. However, since coming out of the holiday break the Devils haven’t had the same consistency of game. Maybe a repeat against the Cup champs is exactly the recipe the team needs.

      “We’re trying to find our game here again consistently,” Keefe said. “We’ve seen some signs of that and decent results of late. Perhaps it’s another opportunity for us to look at it the same way and we’ve discussed how we can approach it similarly and hope for the same effort and result.”

      PK Threat

      The Florida Panthers feature a very deadly offense. And that includes when they have four skaters on the ice. The Panthers lead the NHL with 11 shorthanded goals, three more than second-place Toronto, 8.

      “They’re creating turnovers, putting you in vulnerable spots and capitalizing the other way,” Keefe said. “We have to play through pressure because that creates turnovers and puts you in vulnerable spots. When they have us in vulnerable spots we have to get back and transition to defense quickly.”

      Florida’s Sam Reinhart, who is second in the NHL with 27 goals overall, has the most shorthanded goals on the year in the league with five.

      “Reinhart specifically, he might have the best stick in the league or close to it in terms of getting stick on pucks, turning things over and then his ability to score,” Keefe said. “He’s also very smart positionally and it allows him to utilize his skills to create those turnovers.”

      The Devils also like to use their skilled players on the PK with Jack Hughes, Bratt and Nico Hischer.

      "We always talk about that," Bratt said. "We don't want to be satisfied with just winning the puck back and clearing it out. If you have a chance to go, you go. Because we know it's hard to transition on the power play and you have that offensive mindset. You may gain that split second that you need to create those offensive scoring chance."

      THE SCOOP

      The Devils stumbled during a six-game road trip that saw the club go 1-4-1. The team responded in its first game back at home with a 3-2 overtime win against Tampa Bay on Tuesday.

      Jack Hughes leads the Devils in scoring with 52 points. He’s riding a four-game scoring streak with six points total (2g-4a). Jesper Bratt broke a nine-game goalless streak at the Rangers. Despite the goal drought, Bratt still has produced and hasn’t gone more than two straight games without a point. Goaltender Jacob Markstrom ranks fourth in the NHL in both goals-against average (2.19) and shutouts (3).

      The Panthers are chasing Toronto for the top spot in the Atlantic Division. They trail by three points in the standings. Florida is facing the Devils on the second half of back-to-back games after a 4-3 loss at Philadelphia Monday night. Sam Reinhart scored two more goals in the losing effort.

      Reinhart leads the team in goals (27) and points (51). Captain Aleksander Barkov has a team-best 27 assists. The team has five players in double digit goals and seven players with 20 or more points. Defenseman Aaron Ekblad suffered an injury before the recent two-game road trip and didn’t travel.

      WHO’S HOT

      Devils: Ondrej Palat has a three-game point streak with two goals and three points total. He has 11 points (7g-4a) in his past 15 games.

      Panthers: Sam Reinhart ranks second in the NHL with 27 goals on the season. He has five tallies in the past three games. What’s more impressive, Reinhart is converting 22.5 percent of his shots.

      INJURIES

      Devils: Haula (ankle, day-to-day), Hatakka (shoulder, IR)

      Panthers: Gadjovich (upper-body, IR), Ekblad (undisclosed)

      REGULAR-SEASON RESULTS

      STATS LEADERS

      STATS LEADERS
      DEVILS
      PANTHERS
      Goals
      Hischier, 19
      Reinhart, 27
      Assists
      Bratt, 36
      Barkov, 27
      Points
      J.Hughes, 52
      Reinhart, 51

      GAME NOTES

      • The Devils and Panthers meet for the third and final time this season. It is the only content in New Jersey. The Devils won in the two previous matchups, both in Florida.
      • Jesper Bratt leads all players in goals and scoring in the season series with three goals and five points against the Panthers. Jack Hughes (1g-3a) and Nico Hischier (4a) are close behind with four points each. Stefan Noesen has two goals in the series. Florida's Sam Reinhart (2g) and Aleksander Barkov (2a) each have two points in the season series.
      • The Devils are 21-0-1 when leading after two periods
      • Barkov, Tkachuk and Ekblad made the Panthers' First Team Quarter Century Team. Reinhart and Bobrovsky were named Second Team.
      • The Panthers lead the NHL with 11 shorthanded goals this season (three more than second-place Toronto, 8). Sam Reinhart leads the NHL with five shorties scored.