Devils' 5-1 Win vs. Panthers: A Complete Effort
The New Jersey Devils played one of the better games of the season in a 5-1 win over the Florida Panthers.
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The New Jersey Devils’ playoff hopes are more or less dead in the water, but they aren’t throwing in the towel just yet. After defeating the St. Louis Blues 3-1 over the weekend, they opened up their seven-game homestand with an impressive 5-1 win over the Florida Panthers.
Granted, the Panthers aren’t the same team as the past few seasons. But the Devils played one of their more complete games of the season, punctuated by one of their best third periods of the 2025-26 campaign.
Devils Got Better as the Game Progressed
Arseny Gritsyuk got the Devils on the board first with a wicked snipe past Sergei Bobrovsky, but the first period was a shaky one for the Devils. They were a bit sloppy at the start, and the Panthers had most of the territorial play.
The Panthers finished the first period totaling 1.55 expected goals at five-on-five, but they wouldn’t even generate that combined over the final 40 minutes.
That’s a credit to the Devils, whose effort seemed to improve as the game progressed. Dougie Hamilton continued his hot play, scoring a goal to give the Devils a 2-1 lead, and the team never looked back after that.
There were a couple of shifts here and there where the Devils got hemmed in toward the end of the second period, specifically when the Cody Glass line was out for over two minutes. But they mostly kept the Panthers to the perimeter, limiting the quality chances against.
The third period has been a problem for the Devils this season. They had a goal differential of -23 in the third period coming into last night’s contest, the worst in the NHL, but you wouldn’t have known it by how they played against the Panthers.
The Devils only generated 0.36 expected goals at five-on-five in the third, but they also limited the Panthers to just 0.14. Florida also didn’t record a single shot on goal at all strengths over the final 16 minutes of the game.
For the third period overall, the Devils outshot the Panthers 12-2 and out-chanced them 10-1 at all strengths. They’d probably have a few more wins if they had more third periods like that one this season. At least it’s something to build on for the next six games of this homestand.
Hamilton Continues His Strong Play
We’re just about 48 hours away from the NHL trade deadline. We’ll see what general manager Tom Fitzgerald has in store, but it wouldn’t be a shock if Hamilton is on the move.
The Devils’ No. 1 defender had another strong game and has been one of the team’s best players since being a healthy scratch in mid-January. In addition to his goal, he picked up the secondary assist on Cody Glass’ tally that gave the Devils a 3-1 lead in the second period.
With the multi-point game, Hamilton has now recorded 17 points across his last 20 outings, a 70-point pace over 82 games.
Hamilton was also one of the Devils’ best five-on-five players last night. Shot attempts were 16-7 in favor of the Devils when he was on the ice, and they controlled 61.65 percent of the expected goals (xG%).
That’s been the trend with Hamilton’s five-on-five game across his last 20 appearances, too. He has an xG% of 56.32 across that stretch, so he’s peaking at the right time.
We’ll see if he remains a Devil past the trade deadline. If the right deal comes along, Fitzgerald might take it. But Hamilton is showing potential suitors (and the Devils) that he still has plenty to offer.
Markström Delivers Another Quality Start
The Devils played another solid game in front of Jacob Markström, just as they did in St. Louis, but he was excellent in between the pipes again.
Markström didn’t face much danger across the final 40 minutes of the game, especially in the third period, but he was tested early and often in the opening frame.
There was a sequence on a Panthers power play with about six minutes left in the first where Markström made two great back-to-back saves on Sam Bennett. Had he not made those, the Panthers could have gone into the first intermission with a 2-1 lead. Perhaps the rest of the game unfolds differently if they do.
Markström ended the night making 20 saves on 21 shots while stopping 1.89 goals above expected. Since the 9-0 loss to the New York Islanders, Markström has totaled a save percentage of .910 while saving 5.03 goals above expected.
If he keeps that up and the Devils start finding ways to score more often, they will win some games to close the season.
Quick Hits
The fourth line didn’t score last night, but they played quite well. Maxim Tsyplakov had a grade-A chance on the doorstep in the first period, but Sergei Bobrovsky made the save. That chance came on a perfect setup from Nick Bjugstand behind the net. Tysplakov finished the game with xG% of 87.83, first among Devils skaters, and three scoring chances. Paul Cotter had a couple of good looks as well. It was one of the better outings from the Devils’ fourth line this season.
There’s a reason Lenni Hämeenaho has remained in the NHL since getting called up before the Olympic break. It’s because he belongs. He collected the primary assist on Glass’ goal and finished the game with an xG% of 58.4. Hopefully, he gets some looks in the top six to close the season.
Earlier this morning, Pierre LeBrun reported that the Devils are taking calls on Šimon Nemec in hopes of upgrading their forward group. Selling high on Nemec is the right move, but Jordan Kyrou is the only known player available that would make sense for Nemec at this time. Perhaps more on this tomorrow, assuming there isn’t a trade in the next 24 hours.
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