New Jersey Devils take on the Florida Panthers
The New Jersey Devils will be hosting the Florida Panthers in the first match of Friday. Both the teams are scheduled to face each four times during the course of the season. Out of these four meetings, two have already taken place with the Panthers winning
the first 3-2 in overtime. In the second game, the New Jersey Devils comprehensively won 5-2.
The Devils have a lot of ground to cover if they want to finish in a play-off spot. Currently, they trail the last play-off spot by 18 points which is occupied by the Atlanta Thrashers. Things are looking bleak but if the Devils manage to come up with some
consecutive wins, they have a chance of making it into the play-offs.
New Jersey was going through the worst season in its history but finally things have turned around as they have at last found a way out of the last spot in the league. They were in touching distance of the Edmonton Oilers and the New York Islanders throughout
the season but whenever it looked as if they would move up they lost a game. Currently, their performances have been some of the most consistent in the league. They are finally past the islanders and the Oilers, to move up the league table after a win this
Thursday.
In their last match with the New York Rangers, the Devils built up a comfortable three goal lead. The lack of communication at the back resulted in the Rangers cutting the lead to just one goal. However, they managed to hold on and win the match 3-2 in the
end.
"That was not easy," Coach Jacques Lemaire said. "We had the good start. I think we played well. The thing is, the time we started to get penalties, which didn't help. But I felt the guys didn't drop as a team. Guys still had poise and did what they had
to do and got a break at the end."
To date, the New Jersey Devils have played 51 games, out which they have won 18 in regulation time, three games in overtime and have scored 39 points. On the other hand, the Florida Panthers have played 51 games out which they have won 22 games in regulation
time, six games in overtime and scored 50 points.
The Panthers are going to be fatigued because this is their third game in four nights. This long road trip has been underway since the All-Star break and will end after this game. In their last game the Panthers took the lead with the opening goal but they
failed to convert further chances that came their way and lost the 3-2 in the end.
"It's tough to win on one goal," said goalie Tomas Vokoun, who stopped 38 shots. "We did score at the end there, but it's been our problem all year. You can't expect to win 1-0 on the road, it's just impossible. I think we played hard, and that's all you
can ask. They were just a better team."
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