RECAP: Panthers can't hold third-period lead in loss to Devils

SUNRISE, Fla. -The Florida Panthers surrendered three goals in the third period to let a 2-1 lead turn into a 4-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils at FLA Live Arena on Wednesday.
Per NaturalStatTrick.com, Florida led New Jersey 47-35 in scoring chances.
"We've got to finish some plays around their net, for sure," Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. "What you hang your hat on and you hope is that if you're getting beat up by the numbers, too, then you have a real problem. But the opposite is our case. We have this freakish 5-on-5 number that hasn't translated to wins. We've got areas we've got to get better, but the effort was good. The boys played hard tonight."

Cracking the scoresheet in eight of his last 11 games, Eric Staal opened the scoring for the Panthers when, after some great work from his linemates, he pounced on a loose puck on the doorstep and sent a shot past Mackenzie Blackwood to make it 1-0 at 4:45 of the first period.
Over his last five games, Staal has scored three goals.
Evening things up for the Devils soon after, Jesper Bratt blasted a one-timer past Sergei Bobrovsky from the right circle on the power play to make it 1-1 at 7:01. Nearly giving New Jersey the lead minutes later, Miles Wood had a tipped goal waived off due to a high stick.
Finally getting a power play late in the second period, Eetu Luostarinen, who is setting himself up for a career-best campaign, put the Panthers back on top when he took a pass from Sam Bennett and ripped a wicked wrist shot past Blackwood from the slot to make it 2-1 at 16:12.
Back in the lineup for the first time since he suffered an upper-body injury on Dec. 1 against the Vancouver Canucks, Anton Lundell recorded the secondary assist on Luostarinen's goal.
"I felt great," Lundell said. "It's been a long time and a tough time to be out. A lot of rehab and just trying to get myself back to games as soon as possible. I'm finally happy that I'm able to rejoin the team, bring positive energy and help the team to create chances."
Netting his second goal of the game to tie things up for the Devils, Bratt collected a dish from Dougie Hamilton, skated into the offensive zone one a 2-on-1 rush, kept the puck himself and beat Bobrovsky with a short-side shot to make it 2-2 at 2:44 of the third period.
Giving the Devils their first lead of the game, Yegor Sharangovich re-directed a point shot from Jonas Siegenthaler to make it 3-2 at 10:10. After the Panthers came oh-so-close to finding the game-tying goal, Tomas Tatar cashed in on an empty net to put the Devils up 4-2 at 19:20.
Helping New Jersey snap out of a six-game losing skid, Blackwood finished with 34 saves.
"We obviously had our chances to tie it up," Panthers defenseman Josh Mahura said. "It's tough going into the third when you have the lead and then giving it up. We're going to take a look at it."

KEY QUOTES

"I think we've said before that it's always next man up. Regardless of who's in the lineup, we always expect to play our best. Whoever's in is expected to pick up roles. It's tough, but we've got one more game to get it to going before the break."- Josh Mahura on Florida's injuries
"With the injury that he had, he couldn't do a lot of work while he was healing. I thought he was real good. I was concerned about the faceoff circle, but that wasn't an issue for him. That line was good." - Paul Maurice on Anton Lundell's return

CATS NOTES

• Aleksander Barkov (lower body) missed his second straight game.
  - Eric Staal (38 years, 53 days) is the first Panthers player aged 38 or older to score in consecutive games since Jaromir Jagr (45 years, 24 days) in 2016-17, per NHL PR.
  - Aaron Ekblad recorded a team-high six shots on goal.
  - The Panthers trailed the Devils 11-27 in blocked shots.

WHAT'S NEXT?

In their final game before the holiday break, the Panthers (15-15-4) will pack their bags and head to UBS Arena to face the New York Islanders (18-13-2) on Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET.