Jersey Boys: Devils Complete Sunrise Takeover, Beat Panthers Again

SUNRISE — The New Jersey Devils completed a ‘special’ visit to South Florida on Thursday night, completing a two-game sweep of the Florida Panthers.

Thanks to three power-play goals in the opening 40, the Devils took control of the Panthers and left town with a pair of wins — including a 6-2 victory on Thursday.

New Jersey ended Florida’s seven-game winning streak with a 4-1 win on Tuesday.

Jesper Bratt got a hat trick, Stefan Noesen scored a pair of goals, and Jake Allen made 25 saves in a win which left Paul Maurice understandably upset.

The Panthers pretty much fell apart on Thursday.

Jesper Boqvist and Sam Reinhart scored a pair of beautiful goals for the Panthers, but it was not enough, not with Florida’s struggles on special teams.

Not only was Jersey 3-for-5 on its power-play tries, but the kill was 5-for-5 against the Panthers as well.

Florida now has two games against the NHL’s top team, with the Jets coming to town on Saturday and the Panthers going to Winnipeg on Tuesday.

HOW THEY SCORED

• Devils 1, Panthers 0 (10:01 1st): Stefan Noesen picks up a rebound to the left of Sergei Bobrovsky and puts it up high in the corner.
• Panthers 1, Devils 1 (12:13 1st): Jesper Boqvist walks Dougie Hamilton, slipping the puck between his skates as he heads to the net and slides it past Jake Allen.
• Devils 2, Panthers 1 (19:58 1st PP): Jesper Bratt floats a saucer through traffic that gets past Bobrovsky with just 1.4 seconds left before the break.
• Panthers 2, Devils 2 (4:45 2nd): Sam Reinhart rips one from the left circle dot and we’re tied again.
• Devils 3, Panthers 2 (5:56 2nd PP): Jack Hughes throws a puck toward the net and it hits the skate of Dmitry Kulikov and past Bobrovsky.
• Devils 4, Panthers 2 (19:49 2nd PP): Noesen gets his second of the night following a very questionable interference call on Niko Mikkola.
• Devils 5, Panthers 2 (3:50 3rd): Bratt gets his second of the game by firing one off the chest of Bobrovsky — and the puck drops and gets through.
• Devils 6, Panthers 2 (14:48 3rd EN SH): Bratt gets his second career hat trick on a 6-on-4 penalty kill into the empty net.

FHN’S 3 STARS OF THE GAME

• 1. Jesper Bratt, New Jersey
• 2. Stefan Noesen, New Jersey
• 3. Jack Hughes, New Jersey

ON DECK: GAME 18

WINNIPEG JETS AT FLORIDA PANTHERS 

• When: Saturday, 7 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FTL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (Naples/FTM)
• Streaming: Panthers+, ESPN+
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• Last season: Winnipeg won 2-0
• This season — At Florida: Saturday. At Winnipeg: Tuesday.
• All-time regular season series: Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets lead 54-31-8, 5 ties
• Up Next for the Panthers: Tuesday at Winnipeg Jets, 8 p.m. ET