Reinhart, Panthers surge past Devils in 3rd period

The Florida Panthers scored three goals in a span of 2:30 in the third period to rally for a 4-2 victory against the New Jersey Devils at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on Saturday.

Matthew Tkachuk made it 3-2 at 8:44 after goals by Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart pulled Florida even. Reinhart scored his second of the game into an empty net at 19:39 for the 4-2 final.
"I liked our bounce back in the third," Reinhart said. "We started moving our feet a little, started creating some chances and we capitalized. It was a back-and-forth night and they hung on. Then they took it to us and took some wind out of our sails. We got the power-play goal and really pushed forward in the third."
Barkov had a goal and an assist to tie Jonathan Huberdeau for the most points in Panthers history (613), and Sergei Bobrovsky made 33 saves in his 12th consecutive start for Florida, which has a six-game point streak (5-0-1). Carter Verhaeghe and Brandon Montour each had two assists.
The Panthers moved within one point of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
"Having come back in a few games lately was in their memory," Florida coach Paul Maurice said. "They knew we could come back. And we deserved that win. They are one of the elite teams in the NHL and you would expect them to control some parts of the game, but overall I thought we were strong."

Nico Hischier and Jesper Boqvist scored for New Jersey (44-18-7), which has lost three in a row. Akira Schmid made 37 saves.
The Devils are second in the Metropolitan Division, three points behind the Carolina Hurricanes, and lead the New York Rangers by five points for third place.
New Jersey had been 28-0-2 this season when leading after two periods.
"Really just a couple of big breakdowns," Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. "I'm embarrassed what we did to our goaltender. … We've been good with playing with a lead, [but] that one, that's not Devils hockey."
Barkov began the comeback when he cut it to 2-1 at 6:14 by putting in a loose puck after Montour's shot hit Panthers defenseman Marc Staal in the face in front of the net.
"It was nice to get a bounce, which we were not getting in the first 40 minutes," Tkachuk said. "To get one in the third was kind of shocking to see. It bounced our way and it went right to Barkov. His line was awesome in the third."
Reinhart tied it 2-2 on the power play at 7:54 when he tipped Montour's point shot.

After being outshot 16-11 in the first period, New Jersey took a 1-0 lead at 2:16 of the second on Hischier's short-handed goal.
Hischier scored from the left face-off circle on a breakaway with a shot that bounced in off the far post.
Boqvist extended it to 2-0 from the left circle at 7:43 after a wild sequence that saw the puck nearly cross the goal line, Bobrovsky lose his stick after a shot hit the post, and Barkov and Staal get injured. Both remained in the game.
"We had the perfect situation going into the third," Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler said. "We just gave it away. It shouldn't happen. Everybody knows it in here."
NOTES: Hischier scored his third short-handed goal of the season, the most by a New Jersey player since Blake Coleman had three in 2019-20. … Montour has 58 points (12 goals, 46 assists) this season, the second-most by a defenseman in Florida history behind Keith Yandle's 62 points (nine goals, 53 assists) in 2018-19). … Barkov has 238 goals and 375 assists in 651 NHL games, all with the Panthers; Huberdeau had 198 goals and 415 assists in 671 games with Florida.