The Florida Panthers are riding high on the strength of a seven-game winning streak, but don’t tell that to forward Sam Bennett.
“We don’t really look at the streaks, just try and treat each game the same,” Bennett said. “We’re good at getting up for games that are tough to get up for and playing the same style of hockey. We’ve done a great job during this stretch.”
Bennett and the Panthers aim to continue their torrid stretch on Tuesday night when they host the New Jersey Devils in Sunrise, Fla. The teams also will square off in the Sunshine State on Thursday.
Bennett scored a goal in Florida’s 4-3 shootout victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday to boost his season point total to 15 (nine goals, six assists) in 15 games. He trails only Sam Reinhart in goals (11) and points (23) on the team.
Speaking of Reinhart, he notched an assist on defenseman Dmitry Kulikov’s goal in the second period on Saturday to extend his point streak to seven games (six goals, five assists). Reinhart also torched New Jersey in 2023-24, scoring four goals to help the Panthers win two of the three games in the season series.
Evan Rodrigues had a pair of assists before scoring the deciding goal in the fifth round of the shootout versus the Flyers.
Captain Aleksander Barkov has produced two goals and nine assists since returning from a lower-body injury on Oct. 28.
Sergei Bobrovsky has won five straight starts since being pulled after yielding five goals in two periods against the Minnesota Wild on Oct. 22. The two-time Vezina Trophy recipient boasts a sterling 20-7-1 record in 29 career appearances versus the Devils.
For its part, New Jersey was unable to solve former Devils netminder Mackenzie Blackwood in a 1-0 setback to the San Jose Sharks on Sunday. New Jersey had won three in a row and five its previous six games before Blackwood recorded 44 saves in the shutout.
“They’ve got a fast, skilled team, and they have been playing well of late,” Devils backup goaltender Jake Allen said after his 26-save performance. “Coming off (Saturday’s 4-3 overtime win versus the New York Islanders), we wanted to keep this stretch going here. Now we’ll take time to regroup. It’s going to be a tough test this week, a tough challenge.”
Jesper Bratt was denied on a partial breakaway during the final minute of the second period on Sunday. Bratt, who leads the team in assists (14) and points (19), had three and five, respectively, in three games versus Florida last season.
Jack Hughes registered eight shots on goal on Sunday after recording back-to-back three-point performances. The top overall pick of the 2019 NHL Draft sits one point shy of 300 in his young career.
Devils No. 1 goaltender Jacob Markstrom has won four of his last five starts, posting a 2.00 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage. In 11 games (10 starts) against Florida, he is 5-5-1 with a 3.08 GAA and a .909 save percentage.
The Devils have killed off 19 consecutive penalties heading into their three-game stretch in the Sunshine State. They wrap up that span against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.
–Field Level Media
