*Photo from the Santa Maria Times*
After a period of dormancy, the comeback cats are back. Aleksander Barkov had a goal and an assist, Matthew Tkachuk scored two goals, and the Florida Panthers rallied to beat the New Jersey Devils 4-2 on Saturday in Sunrise.
The Panthers now have two wins in a row and are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games. It's that hot streak that has moved them only one point behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. Their latest win came on the strength of 4 goals in the 3rd period.
Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said of the rally that "Having come back in a few games lately was in their memory. They knew we could come back. And we deserved that win. They are one of the elite teams in the NHL and you would expect them to control some parts of the game, but overall I thought we were strong."
The first period went scoreless. Nico Hischier broke the ice in the second period with a shorthanded goal, giving the Devils a 1-0 lead with assists from John Marino and Ryan Graves. Damon Severson then assisted on Jesper Boqvist's 8th goal of the season to double the Devils lead to 2-0, coming 7:43 into the second.
Barkov started the comeback 6:14 into the 3rd period, scoring his 18th goal of the season. Reinhart then scored his 25th goal of the season, tying the game 2-2 on the power play with Brandon Montour and Carter Verhaeghe assisting. Matthew Tkachuk scored at the 8:44 mark of the 3rd to make it 3-2, followed by Reinhart's second goal of the night for insurance.
Reinhart said of the comeback that "We started moving our feet a little, started creating some chances and we capitalized. It was a back-and-forth night and they hung on. This is the most fun time to play. You could sense the atmosphere from the start. Fans know the position we are in. We’re enjoying the battle."
Getting the start for the Panthers was Sergei Bobrovsky, starting his 12th consecutive game. Bobrovsky turned aside 33 of the 35 shots he faced from the Devils, recording a .943 save percentage. His record improved to 23-17-3.
In net for the Devils was backup Akira Schmid, who got the loss to fall to 8-5-2 in 16 games this season. Schmid stopped 37 out of the 40 shots on goal the Panthers had, good for a .925 save percentage.
Devils head coach Lindy Ruff said of the loss that there were "Just a couple of big breakdowns. I’m embarrassed what we did to our goaltender. After recovering from a tough first period and playing such a good second period to do that to ourselves, that’s more than the punch in the gut."
The Devils get back in action on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Lightning to wrap up a back to back, with Vitek Vanecek starting. Bobrovsky is the expected starter for the Panthers on Monday night against the Detroit Red Wings.
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