Daws, Devils stop Panthers winning streak at 9

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Nico Daws made 36 saves, and the New Jersey Devils ended the Florida Panthers’ nine-game winning streak with a 4-1 victory at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday.

Alexander Holtz, Jesper Bratt, Erik Haula and John Marino scored for New Jersey (22-15-3), which had lost two straight.

“That was a great game from everyone, lot of great defensive plays and a lot of big blocks,” said Daws, who started for the fourth time in seven games. “I think the more games I play, the more confident I get. I am feeling real good about my game right now. I hope that can keep going.”

Sam Reinhart scored for a sixth straight game, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 18 saves for Florida (27-13-2), which hadn’t lost since Dec. 21 (4-1 to the St. Louis Blues at home).

“It is good for us to reset, regroup and get back at it,” Bobrovsky said. “We had a good run. We need to make sure we stay with our game. … It was fantastic and we beat a lot of really good, high-skilled teams. It’s a long season. Streaks and stuff don’t matter. It’s about learning our lessons and getting ready for the playoffs.”

It was the third-longest winning streak in Panthers history. Florida won 13 in a row from March 29-April 23, 2022, and 12 straight from Dec. 15, 2015-Jan. 10, 2016.

“I don’t think we were lucky in those nine,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “I wouldn’t say, ‘Hey, we had a lot go our way.’ We earned those nine; they earned those nine. They played their butts off. Tonight wasn’t going to happen for us.”

Holtz gave the Devils a 1-0 lead at 3:50 of the first period. He sent the puck toward the net from the right face-off circle, and it went off the stick of Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov and over Bobrovsky’s shoulder.

Bratt made it 2-0 at 14:45, and Haula pushed the lead to 3-0 at 3:51 of the second period, scoring from the left circle off a back pass from Nico Hischier on the rush.

“We are building our game and feeling more and more comfortable,” Holtz said. “We’re trending in the right way.”

Reinhart cut it to 3-1 on the power play at 19:27. He scored on a one-timer in the slot after Matthew Tkachuk fed him with a between-the-legs pass from in front of the net.

Daws stopped all 16 shots he faced in the third period.

“He gave us some great saves, obviously,” New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. “I thought when they really leaned on it late in the second and in the third … he made some big saves. You need that. We were undermanned a little bit and you lean on our goalie to give you some quality saves. And he gave us some quality saves.”

With 2:37 left in the third and Bobrovsky pulled for the extra attacker, Reinhart hit the post with a shot from the left circle, then was denied by Daws from the slot four seconds later.

“We had some chances, hit some posts but we battled to the end,” said Florida defenseman Brandon Montour, who hit the post on a breakaway during a power play with 4:54 left in the third. ‘’We had a few chances to get there. It just wasn’t our night. It is a long season and you’re not going to have the perfect game every night. I think we eased up and gave them a few chances that they capitalized on. There were a few freaky bounces and we couldn’t come back.”

Marino scored into an empty net at 19:41 of the third for the 4-1 final.

“We came out strong, knew they had won nine in a row so they were pretty hot,” said Devils center Michael McLeod, who assisted on Bratt’s goal.

“I liked how we closed the game. That’s something we have been talking about. We talked about being able to play with the lead. They got one late in the second, and I was impressed how we did not panic.”

NOTES: Bobrovsky was added Saturday to the 2024 NHL All-Star Game via the fan vote. He had won his previous seven starts. … Reinhart has 10 points (eight goals, two assists) in a six-game point streak. He is tied with Tkachuk for the second-longest goal streak in Panthers history, behind Pavel Bure (seven games, 2000-01). … Tkachuk’s goal streak ended at five games, but he extended his point streak to eight (17 points; seven goals, 10 assists). … Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe had a seven-game point streak end. … New Jersey is 9-2-2 when scoring first this season and 14-2-1 when leading after two periods.