Florida (7-9-1) at New Jersey (8-7-2) 7:00 p.m. EST
NEWARK, New Jersey (Ticker) -- The New Jersey Devils have
struggled since All-Star goaltender Martin Brodeur went down.
The play in their net, surprisingly, has not been the team's
biggest problem.
The Devils look to score more than two goals for the second time
in the last six games and win back-to-back contests for the
first time this month when they face the Florida Panthers on
Thursday.
Brodeur, who is expected to miss three to four months after
undergoing elbow surgery, suffered the injury during a 6-1
victory on November 1. Since then, New Jersey is averaging 2.14
goals per game while going 2-5-0.
The Devils snapped a four-game slide on Saturday with an
offensive explosion, earning a 6-5 shootout win over the
Washington Capitals. Patrik Elias tallied twice and Zach Parise
netted the shootout winner.
The six goals were one more than the team managed during its
four-game slide.
Veteran backup Scott Clemmensen stopped all three tries by the
Capitals in the shootout to earn his first win of the season.
The Panthers having been playing better, picking up wins in
three of their last four games. David Booth scored his
team-leading eighth goal and Bryan McCabe tallied twice in
Tuesday's 4-3 shootout win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The second-worst goal-scoring team in the Eastern Conference
with 41 goals in 17 games, Florida has picked up the pace to
average 3.25 tallies over the past four games.