The Devils have a record of 30-28-4 and are in the sixth wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Devils have a record of 30-28-4 and are in the sixth wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
The New Jersey Devils' comeback effort on Tuesday night failed against the Florida Panthers. The Devils put forth a better effort but lost 5-3 at Prudential Center. It was Travis Green's first game as interim head coach.
For the 45th time this season, the Devils surrendered the game's opening goal. Nick Cousins scored his fourth goal of the season less than three minutes after puck drop.
Evan Rodrigues extended Florida's lead to 2-0 minutes later on the power play. It took six minutes for Matthew Tkachuk to collect two assists.
The Panthers scored two goals, while the Devils had one shot on goal.
Jack Hughes pulled his team within one on the man advantage. Luke Hughes dished the puck to Jesper Bratt, who found the older Hughes brother. The puck deflected off the stick of opposing defenseman Gustav Forsling and past Panthers' netminder Anthony Stolarz.
After 20 minutes, the Devils were down 2-1. The Panthers held an 11-3 shot advantage and blocked eight New Jersey shots in front of Stolarz.
A little over halfway into the middle frame, Timo Meier scored to tie the game 2-2. He forced his way through two Panthers players, kicked the puck to his stick, and put it past Stolarz. It was an unassisted individual effort. The Swiss winger extended his point streak to four games.
Florida regained the lead less than two minutes later. Eetu Luostarinen net his 11th goal of the season. Former Devil Dmitry Kulikov and Oliver Ekman-Larsson collected the helpers.
Entering the second intermission, New Jersey trailed Florida 3-2. The Panthers entered Tuesday's game with a record of 28-0-3 when leading after two periods.
Cousin's second goal of the night gave the Panthers some breathing room five minutes into the third period. Tkachuk earned his third assist.
With eight minutes remaining in regulation, Devils defenseman Colin Miller scored his fourth of the season. Jack Hughes and Bratt earned the assists and collected their second point of the night.
New Jersey came close to tying the game in the final minutes but ultimately fell short as Florida hit the empty net, handing New Jersey their third consecutive loss.
Devils goaltender Akira Schmid made 26 saves on 30 shots and finished the game with a .867 save percentage.
UP NEXT: The Devils will host the St. Louis Blues on Thursday, March 7.
LINES:
Timo Meier - Nico Hischier - Tyler Toffoli
Jack Hughes - Erik Haula - Jesper Bratt
Chris Tierney - Curtis Lazar - Dawson Mercer
Kurtis MacDermid - Tomas Nosek - Alexander Holtz
Jonas Siegenthaler - John Marino
Kevin Bahl -Brendan Smith
Luke Hughes - Colin Miller
Akira Schmid
Make sure you bookmark THN's New Jersey Devils site for THN's latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.