Markstrom, Devils Overcome Panthers 4-1 in Impressive, Physical Victory

Tuesday night’s tilt between the New Jersey Devils gave us a little bit of everything. We had some elite plays, great goaltending, solid special teams, and one helluva fight.

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To date, this was perhaps the best game the Devils played in terms of entertainment. Overall, once New Jersey got the juice they needed, they took over the remainder of the game.

Let’s get to how the Devils defeated the Panthers 4-1.

Devils Recap

The brilliance of Jesper Bratt and Jack Hughes saw the Devils take an early 1-0 lead over the Panthers. The Devils’ first goal of the game was Hughes’ 300th career NHL point.

The Panthers bit back in the second period on Sam Reinhart’s 12th goal of the season, evening the score on the power play. However, Timo Meier slipped behind the Panthers defense and regained the Devils’ lead on a breakaway goal.

The Devils slowed the game down in the third period and played more evenly with Florida than previous. Nico Hischier on the rush dished a no-look pass to Paul Cotter, who sniped the puck over the right shoulder of Spencer Knight. Ondrej Palat deposited the empty-net goal to secure the Devils’ 4-1 victory.

Jacob Markstrom made 34 saves on 35 shots, turning aside two of three power play shots and one short-handed chance.

Takeaways

Swede Pass

Every once in a while, you need your elite players to make an incredible play to change the course of the game.

Early in the first period, the Devils hung with the Panthers, although the Cats controlled the majority of puck possession. About halfway through the first period, the Panthers held the shot advantage 10-3 and collected the majority of the scoring chances.

However, New Jersey moved the puck into the offensive zone and Jesper Bratt needed little to no time to get to work. Defended by ex-Devils defenseman, Dmitry Kulikov, Bratt curled off the Cats defenseman, drifted toward the blue line, and fed a streaking Jack Hughes with a tape to tape backhanded saucer pass for an easy tap-in goal.

The goal certainly cut the momentum the Panthers built as the game became more even from that point on, and it’s all thanks to the elite prowess of the Swedish forward.

Dillon Shifts Momentum

The Devils didn’t exactly have their legs in the second period. Reinhart scored an equalizer on the Panthers’ power play in the middle frame, and it felt like the Devils were chasing the cats for half of the period.

However, Brenden Dillon and Jonah Gadjovich dropped the mitts and had what can only be described as the fight of the season.

After struggling to get pucks on net pre-Dillon fight, the Devils out-shot the Panthers 8-2 in the second half of the middle frame, and eventually found the back of the net on the stick of Timo Meier.

Dillon taking it to Gadjovich certainly put a jolt in the Devils, they needed to contend with the defending champs.

Jacob Markstrom Brilliant

To this point, Jacob Markstrom has been just okay. However, against the defending champs (and his former club), the Devils’ goaltender was brilliant.

Sure, he was fortunate enough that the post bailed him out a few times. But what goaltender in the NHL hasn’t benefitted from the dimensions of the goal?

Markstrom appeared to be the most poised and confident he’s been since arriving in New Jersey, making 34 saves, and 2.3 saves above expected.

Now that’s certainly what New Jersey traded for in Markstrom.

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By James Nichols

James is a fully credentialed New Jersey Devils beat reporter for New Jersey Hockey Now on Sportsnaut and the ... More about James Nichols