Panthers rally, defeat Devils on Hoffman OT goal

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Mike Hoffman scored at 1:28 of overtime to give the Florida Panthers a 4-3 victory against the New Jersey Devils at BB&T Center on Monday.

Hoffman one-timed a centering pass from Jonathan Huberdeau for the game-winner. It came 25 seconds after referee Dean Morton signaled a goal after Hoffman's shot hit the post.
"I didn't see it at all, if it went in or not," Hoffman said. "I shot it kind of through the goalie and heard it hit the post, and then that's all I saw. Yeah, it was close, and then Huberdeau made an excellent play to finish it off. All I really had to do was hit the net. It was a good comeback win for us, good character win. This group has been searching for that for a little bit now, and it's nice to see."
WATCH: [All Devils vs. Panthers highlights]
Huberdeau, who had two assists, tied the game 3-3 with 1:29 left in the third period and goalie James Reimer on the bench for an extra skater. It was his 100th NHL goal.
Aleksander Barkov had a goal and an assist, Jared McCann scored, and Evgenii Dadonov had two assists for the Panthers (9-9-4). Reimer, making his second consecutive start with Roberto Luongo dealing with a knee injury, made 29 saves.

Miles Wood, Blake Coleman and Jesper Bratt scored for the Devils (9-10-4), who have lost three games in a row and are 2-9-1 on the road. Sami Vatanen had two assists, and Keith Kinkaid made 30 saves.
Florida ended a three-game losing streak. It was coming off a 5-4 overtime loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday after allowing the tying goal with 1.8 seconds left in the third period.
"I thought we probably should have won the last game here at home vs. Chicago, but unfortunately those things happen," Hoffman said. "It's a long season, but it's in the past. We can't really do anything about that. It all depends on how we respond, and getting the win here tonight, it's big."
The Devils are 0-4 in overtime.
"We've got to keep working at it," coach John Hynes said. "It's been different situations, different guys, different things. When you look at it, there's not one particular trend. The last couple of games, we lost the first face-offs; tonight, we won the first face-off, had possession. We'll continue to work at it."

Bratt broke a 2-2 tie at 11:27 of the third when he tipped Vatanen's wrist shot from the point. Bratt scored his first goal of the season Sunday in a 5-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
New Jersey took a 2-0 lead at 6:01 of the second. After Wood made it 1-0 at 1:23 when he tipped Vatanen's shot from the point, Coleman scored on a shorthanded breakaway after Barkov lost control of the puck in the neutral zone.
"I think we played all around a good game, but losing like that, it's not easy," Devils forward Nico Hischier said. "But (we have to) forget it, go to sleep, and come back to work tomorrow and just stick with it."
Barkov made it 2-1 at 7:31 when he one-timed Dadonov's pass from behind the net with four seconds left on a 5-on-3 power play.
McCann tied it 2-2 at 11:43 when he beat Kinkaid with a wrist shot from the slot. It was his third goal in five games after he had one in the first 16.
"I'm a guy who shoots first," McCann said. "I feel like I've been getting pucks to the net and through defenders, which I wasn't before, and they've been going in for me."

They said it

"We had the lead going into the last couple of minutes here. They got a bounce on the 6-on-5 goal, but in overtime, I lost my man there. They're good players, they make plays. Can't happen. It's my job, and that last goal is on me. Obviously, we battled today and didn't get it." -- Devils forward Travis Zajac
"It feels good for our confidence. The last game kind of hurt us a little bit at the end. Right now, we needed the two points. We've just got to keep going. I think we need a lot more." -- Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau

Need to know

Panthers defenseman Mark Pysyk played his 300th NHL game. … Hoffman has had at least one point in 19 of the past 20 games.

What's next

Devils: At the Washington Capitals on Friday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, TVAS, NCBSWA+, MSG+, NHL.TV)
Panthers: Host the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; FS-F, PRIME, NHL.TV)