After two frustrating losses to start season, Panthers beat Devils to cap road trip

After two frustrating games to begin the season — one in which they couldn’t get past a hot goaltender, the other in which they dug themselves too deep of a hole to climb out of — the Florida Panthers finally found themselves in the win column for the first time in the 2023-24 season.

While things got shaky in the third period, the Panthers put together their most complete effort of the young season to beat the New Jersey Devils 4-3 on Monday at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. It closed a three-game road trip that begin with a 2-0 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Thursday and 6-4 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday.

“We wanted to win today,” star center and team captain Aleksander Barkov said, “and we did everything we could.”

Sam Reinhart, who moved up to Florida’s top line with Barkov and Evan Rodrigues, scored twice, deflecting in a shot from Rodrigues in the first period at even strength to give Florida a 1-0 lead and doing the same with Oliver Ekman-Larsson on the power play early in the third period to push the advantage to 4-0. Reinhart’s first-period goal was the 200th of his NHL career.

Carter Verhaeghe and Niko Mikkola each added a goal of their own, with star winger Matthew Tkachuk having the primary assist on both goals.

Goaltender Sergei Bobrovksy, meanwhile, stopped 33 of 36 shots that came his way for his 106th win with the Panthers — tying John Vanbiesbrouck for second-most all-time in Panthers history. Roberto Luongo holds the franchise record with 230 wins.

Bobrovsky was nearly perfect at even strength, going 21 of 22 shots while saving 12 of 14 when New Jersey was on the power play.

“When he’s on like that,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said, “that’s why he’s the Bob.”

The effort through the first two periods showed what Florida (1-2-0) can do when things are clicking. The Panthers were aggressive on the forecheck and held their structure defensively. It helped the Panthers build a four-goal lead by the opening minute of the third period that was enough to stave off a comeback bid from the Devils (1-1-1).

“That was exactly how we have to play,” center Eetu Luostarinen said of the first two periods. “We skated hard, pressured. We were in the forecheck and we got the puck from their [defenders] and had a lot of scoring chances.”

Bobrovsky stopped the first 22 shots he faced before the Devils broke up the shutout bid and scored two goals in a span of about five-and-a-half minutes in the third period by Eric Haula on the power play and Michael McLeod at even strength to cut Florida’s lead in half with 11:09 left to play.

The Devils then cut Florida’s lead to one goal with 2:23 left to play when Jesper Bratt scored on a six-on-four power play with New Jersey on the power play and pulling the goaltender for an extra skater.

Florida was out-shot 16-6 in the final period after leading 23-20 through the first two periods.

“A really good 40 minutes,” Tkachuk said, “but we played into their hands in the third and got away from getting physical and let them get back in the game. It’s something we’ll have to learn from. We’ll definitely take the first win, but I don’t know if the third’s a recipe for winning hockey, so we’ve got to fix that.”

Justin Sourdif makes NHL debut

After being a healthy scratch for the first two games of the season, rookie forward Justin Sourdif made his NHL debut on Monday, playing on Florida’s third line with Nick Cousins and Anton Lundell.

He took the spot of fellow rookie Mackie Samoskevich, who made his debut on Opening Night on Thursday and played in the first two games.

“Coming out of camp, we wanted to get both of those young men into a game fairly early based on the camp they had,’’ Maurice said of Sourdif and Samoskevich. “The door was open. I was fine with Mackie’s game and he is going to learn from watching and by playing. This will be a fast game tonight and Sourdie can skate with the best of them. This is the right place for him to go in.’’

Florida has now had three players make their NHL debut through the first three games of the season. Defenseman Uvis Balinskis also made his debut on Thursday and has played in all three games for the Panthers so far, being paired with Josh Mahura.

Sam Bennett to IR

The Panthers on Monday placed center Sam Bennett on injured reserve and signed forward Jonah Gadjovich to a one-year, one-way deal to replace him on the active roster.

Bennett, normally Florida’s second-line center, has been dealing with a lower-body injury since late in the preseason. He did not travel with the team for its opening road trip. Eetu Luostarinen has played the second-line center spot in Bennett’s absence to start the season.

As for Gadjovich, the 24-year-old forward was part of Florida’s training camp but did not participate in any preseason games due to injury. He had signed a contract with the Charlotte Checkers, Florida’s American Hockey League affiliate, in July.

Gadjovich, a second-round pick by the Vancouver Canucks in 2017, had three goals and seven points in 35 games with the San Jose Sharks last season and has played in 79 total NHL games in his career with Vancouver and San Jose.

“Jonah is a physical, highly competitive forward who brings versatility and size to our roster,” Panthers general manager Bill Zito said in a release.

Up next

The Panthers will spend the rest of the next two weeks at home for their first homestand of the season.

The four-game set begins at 7 p.m. Thursday against the Toronto Maple Leafs followed by a 7 p.m. game against the Canucks on Saturday, a 7:45 p.m. game against the Sharks on Oct. 24 and a 6 p.m. matchup against the Seattle Kraken on Oct. 28.