New Jersey Devils-Florida Panthers Quarterfinal Series Review -NHL Playoffs Special
Florida had not seen such days for over 10 years and when the Panthers made the 2012 National Hockey League (NHL) Stanley Cup Playoffs, fans all around the city were going wild to witness their team making history.
Unluckily for them, it was Martin Brodeur and New Jersey who ousted them back in the late 90’s and Devils did it again as Florida Panthers fell short in Game 7.
Despite the loss, the team has shown the world what they truly are capable of and will for sure fight for another spot when the 2012-2013 regular season kicks off later in October this year.
"This is not where the hockey people predicted us to be at the start of the year," Florida’s Stephen Weiss said. "We did some good things. We're obviously disappointed not being able to move on. It's been a fun year. It's been a fun playoff in front of our
fans."
Jose Theodore and youngster Scott Clemmensen played wonderfully for Florida in front of the net but at the end of the day, veteran goaltender Martin Brodeur knew that it might be his last ever Game 7 so he decided to give it his all to make this year really
count.
"Exhausting," Devils coach, Peter DeBoer, said about how Game 7 went into overtime. "A fitting end to the series."
Slow starts really affected the Florida Panthers in a negative sense as they failed to grab to early leads and if they did, New Jersey would find ways to bounce back despite not deserving to do so.
Panthers also saw some failures in their fourth line as Ryan Carter, Steve Bernier and Stephen Gionta just could not get the job done, which ended up costing Florida the series.
It was Florida’s first divisional title in franchise history and they managed to hold on till the final moments of the regular season but due to the playoff inexperience, Panthers could not get past the heated New Jersey Devils.
Game 1
New Jersey got three straight goals in the first period and held on to their lead to take the match 3-2 and an early lead in the series.
Game 2
This time, it was Florida that kicked off the match with two goals by Stephen Weiss and the other two sponsored by Marcel Goc and Tomas Fleischmann to secure it in the third period. Levelling the series, 2-2, after a, 4-2, victory.
Game 3
New Jersey took a dominating 3-0 lead in round-one but Florida was quick to recapture the lead with the next four being Panthers goals while Scott Clemmensen replaced Jose Theodore to shut out the Devils for the remaining time.
Game 4
It was all New Jersey in this game as they countered with a 4-0 shutout as Martin Brodeur played spectacular hockey by blocking all 26 shots on his net as Devils levelled the series.
Game 5
The series was back in Florida and Panthers knew the home crowd was also yearning for a shutout. Jose Theodore blocked 30 of 30 to shutout Devils as Panthers won 3-0 and took a 3-2 lead in the quarterfinals.
Game 6
Despite a 2-0 lead, New Jersey lost it to Florida when Panthers rebounded in the second period but could not win as Travis Zajac scored the game-winner in overtime, forcing a Game 7 competition at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida.
Game 7
Amazingly, Florida continued to fight as they came back from a 2-0 deficit but rookie forward Adam Henrique got a lucky tip in overtime for the golden goal, eliminating the Panthers and moving on to play Philadelphia Flyers in the semi-finals.
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