Reinhart, Panthers hand Devils 5th straight loss

Sam Reinhart scored two goals, and the Florida Panthers handed the New Jersey Devils their fifth straight loss with a 4-2 victory at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on Saturday.

Aaron Ekblad had two assists, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 saves for the Panthers (15-13-4), who had lost three of four.
"We needed an effort like that," Reinhart said. "It's games like that that kind of get the ball rolling and momentum going in the right direction. Hopefully, we can build off that."

Erik Haula had a goal and an assist, and Akira Schmid made 25 saves for the Devils (21-8-2), who are 0-4-1 during their skid.
"Again, we get behind right off the start," New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. "Take a penalty, they score a power-play goal. You look at a couple of the goals, they're not goals we want to give up. … What was the strength of our team was really how well we play defensively. When you start to get a little frustrated offensively, you start to cheat.
"The backbone of our game has been how well we play defensively. We can't get away from that."
Reinhart put the Panthers ahead 1-0 at 8:54 of the first period when his backhand pass intended for Matthew Tkachuk deflected in off the leg of Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler during a power play.
"I liked our first period an awful lot," Florida coach Paul Maurice said. "I thought we had a good template of how we wanted to play the game. Then we got into a little trouble. After that, it was just will. Grind, block shots, spit it out, spit it in and get to the net."

Gustav Forsling made it 2-0 at 7:49 of the second period, receiving a pass from Zac Dalpe above the right face-off circle and scoring with a wrist shot off the glove of Schmid.
"I didn't really like our start," New Jersey defenseman Brendan Smith said. "Give credit to them. They came out and they played a physical, fast game. They were on us. That's kind of our recipe. We didn't really get to that until later in the second.
"We keep spotting teams these goals. It seems like a lot of it is us doing it. … I'm still positive that we have it to get to that next level, but right now, it's too hard when you keep spotting teams goals."
John Marino cut it to 2-1 at 11:27 with a wrist shot from the point after Bobrovsky was knocked down at the edge of the crease. Maurice challenged the play for goalie interference, but a video review determined it was the stick of Eric Staal that caused Bobrovsky to fall down.
"We're playing well. We just keep spotting the other team chances," Marino said. "Those breakdowns are key. Losing those games, especially tight ones like this, we hate losing this many tight ones in a row, too. So just have to tighten that up."

Reinhart redirected a point shot from Ekblad to extend the lead to 3-1 at 19:19. He has six points (four goals, two assists) in his past three games.
Haula cut it to 3-2 at 16:30 of the third period when he tapped in a turnaround pass from Michael McLeod from below the goal line, but Carter Verhaeghe shot into an empty net at 18:49 for the 4-2 final.
"Obviously, they had a push, but I thought our guys kept our composure," Bobrovsky said. "They worked hard and they shut them down. … Over the course of the regular season, there are different circumstances and different hurdles. I thought the guys did a great job to compete and fight."
Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov left the game with a lower-body injury after being hit in the left knee by the stick of Devils center Nico Hischier off a face-off with three seconds left in the first. Maurice said Barkov will be evaluated Sunday.
NOTES: New Jersey defenseman Dougie Hamilton had one assist and six shots on goal in 25:01 of ice time in his 700th NHL game. … Florida defenseman Radko Gudas, who was a game-time decision, missed his seventh straight game with a concussion. … The Panthers were 0-for-16 on the power play in their previous five games. … Tkachuk was held without a shot on goal in 19:03 of ice time after missing the previous game with an illness.