Florida Panthers rally to win 4-3 and take series lead against New Jersey Devils -NHL Playoffs Update
Florida showed some superior playoff form as the Panthers rallied to rebound against New Jersey Devils, not only to win 4-3, but to also take a 2-1 lead in the 2012 National Hockey League (NHL) Eastern Conference playoff quarterfinal series on Tuesday night,
April 17, 2012, at the sold-out Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
It looked like getting back home gave New Jersey an unlimited amount courage as the Devils came right in to score three straight on veteran Florida goalie, Jose Theodore. Panthers rallied to switch goalies and as Scott Clemmensen came in with a surprising
look of determination, Devils failed to get a single goal in the little over 53 minutes remaining.
Theodore fell short on three of six attempts while Clemmensen had a shutout with his perfect 19 saves performance, making it his first ever postseason win.
"The story of this series has been the momentum swings," Clemmensen said. "We're only three games in, but we've seen three goals up, three goals down. For us, we've proven we can come back from three goals down. They have proven to us that they can come
back.
Devils also had to switch goalies when Florida shot off four straight as Martin Brodeur was pulled out after Panthers third goal in the opening minutes of round two while Johan Hedberg took his position and also let one through.
According to Brodeur, the New Jersey Devils let their three goal lead get to their heads to early.
"I think we definitely got overexcited about that three-goal lead and let them back in the game being a little undisciplined, and they got some goals off their power play," said Brodeur.
Zach Parise, Stephen Gionta and Patrik Elias scored three consecutive times in the opening period, making it 3-0 by 6:16 only, but Florida was going to make a historic comeback New Jersey could never have imagined of.
Sean Bergenheim and Jason Garrison fired back nearly three minutes apart late in the first, both on power plays as Florida got the 5-on-4 man advantage.
Mike Weaver levelled it in the opening minutes of the second period while Brian Campbell secured the match nearly midway through, capitalising on their final power play opportunity.
Florida and New Jersey will continue their series with game 4 being on Thursday, April 19, 2012, as Panthers will have the chance to put Devils on the verge of elimination this time.
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