Second night of a back-to-back? Third road game in four nights?
No bother for the Florida Panthers.
The Cats jumped all over New Jersey with a pair of goals in the game’s first 6:30, scored by Nick Cousins and Evan Rodrigues, and never looked back, defeating the host Devils by a final score of 5-3.
It was Florida’s sixth straight win overall and their 13th over their past 14 road games.
Matthew Tkachuk, who has been on an incredible scoring run since the calendar flipped to 2024, had the primary assist on both early goals by the Florida.
A game that was all Panthers for much of the opening period began to slowly but surely tilt toward the home team, which wasn’t terribly surprising considering the Devils were playing their first game under interim head coach Travis Green after Lindy Ruff was fired on Monday.
Jack Hughes scored a power play goal and Timo Meier showed off some slick hand-eye coordination from the top of the crease to tie the game at two just past the game’s midway point.
It didn’t stay tied long though.
Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov sent a frozen rope of a pass from his own zone to a streaking Eetu Luostarinen, who entered the Devils zone, cut between the circles and wired a wrist shot past New Jersey goaltender Akira Schmid to put Florida back in front just 1:36 after the Devils tied the game.
Cousins gave Florida a little bit of insurance early in the third period, getting his stick blade on a long shot by Tkachuk to restore the Panthers’ two-goal lead.
It was a good thing he did because Colin Miller’s wrist shot from the point found its way past a screened Anthony Stolarz with just under nine minutes to go.
That would be as close as New Jersey would get.
A Sam Reinhart empty-net goal closed out the scoring on Florida’s sixth straight win.
On to Philly.
Here are some thoughts and observations from Tuesday’s jostle in Jersey:
After going two games without a point for the first time since mid-December, Tkachuk picked up three primary assists gave him 71 points through 62 games this season.
Reinhart scored four goals during Florida’s three-game roadie. He’s scored in four straight games overall, with six goals during his latest run.
Cousins’ goals were just his fourth and fifth on the year, but he’s now got three over his past six games.
Rodrigues picked up two goals and an assist during Florida’s three-game road trip this week.
Gus Forsling finished the road trip with three combined assists in New York and New Jersey.
Carter Verhaeghe led all players with seven shots on goal after logging just five combined over his previous four games.
LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA
Three takeaways: Components to a strong road game, more Sasha Barkov appreciation
Panthers end road trip in New Jersey looking to extend latest winning streak
Reinhart scores twice, Panthers remain red-hot with 4-2 win over Rangers
Panthers visit Rangers in matchup of Eastern Conference contenders
