Florida is riding a five-game points streak and hosting a Devils team coming off rare consecutive losses
With 14 games remaining and a playoff spot in their sights, the Florida Panthers are gearing up to face the New Jersey Devils Saturday night at FLA Live Arena.
Florida is riding a five-game points streak (4-0-1) and fresh off a remarkably strange and exciting 9-5 win over Montreal on Thursday.
On the flip side, New Jersey will be looking to get back on track after suffering back-to-back home losses to Tampa Bay. It was a rare bump in the road for a team that has been racking up the points since the ball dropped on 2023.
How consistent have the Devils been in terms of wins and losses? Since Jan. 1, the only time New Jersey has lost consecutive games was…Tuesday and Thursday against Tampa.
Florida should be expecting a focused team from New Jersey that plays a fast, physical game and will be looking to set the tone from the jump.
Considering the Panthers have had issues with the way they’ve started games, it will be imperative for them not to allow the Devils to gain momentum early.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Paul Maurice: “They're an unusual team; puck possession team, hard gap defensive team that makes an awful lot of small area plays. You've got to be on the right side of the puck but you have to be tight gap with them. We can't give them room to play on because they use that, and it's what they're good at. We have a different version of being offensively real good, like both teams can score an awful lot of goals, both teams defend with the same mindset but possibly different because of the way we're physically built, but the team probably with the best gap tomorrow wins.”
Radko Gudas: “They're a great team off the rush. They're in this position where they are this year for a reason and for us, staying tight to them the whole time and the whole game is going to be crucial for us. We’ve got to be ready from the first puck drop, and 60 or 65 minutes, whatever it’s gonna take for us.”
Sam Bennett: “They’re a skilled team that works really hard so I think if we’re getting in on the forecheck…I think we’ve got to play them physically. They’ve got a lot of really skilled guys so if we play them hard, play them physical, and other than that we just play our game, we’re gonna have success.”