Travis Zajac scored his first career hat trick at the expense of our beloved Panthers tonight. The first goal came only 12 seconds in, and the second 11 minutes later on the power play. Zajac's first 2 goals bookended a Jaromir Jagr goal and put the Devils up 3-0 halfway into the first.
The Cats wouldn't go down easy though. Dmitry Kulikov scored his 8th goal of the year on a short handed attempt with 2:38 left in the first. He beat Brodeur after receiving a nice feed from Nick Bjugstad.
The Cats wouldn't go down easy though. Dmitry Kulikov scored his 8th goal of the year on a short handed attempt with 2:38 left in the first. He beat Brodeur after receiving a nice feed from Nick Bjugstad.
The Panthers brought it within 1 only 50 seconds into the second period thanks to Brad Boyes, his 20th goal of the year. The period would end 4-3 after a New Jersey goal by Ryan Clowe and Panther goal by Brandon Pirri. Despite spending almost 50% of the second period on the power play, the Panthers went 0-for-4. This could have been the deciding factor in the game.
Florida really let the game get away in the third period. The offense was stagnant, registering only 5 shots. Jacob Josefson scored short handed to give the Devils some breathing room, sneaking one past Dan Ellis' left side after a turnover. New Jersey never looked back. Zajac got his hat trick with 10:23 left in the game to make it 6-3, which would be the final tonight in Newark, a city not nearly as nice as Sunrise.
Dan Ellis played pretty awful tonight, playing for Luongo who was out with a strained neck. Only saving 26 of 32 for a .813 save percentage. The funny thing though, is he still did better than old man Brodeur, who let in 3 of 9 shots for a .667 save percentage before getting pulled in the second.
Florida now sits at 27-41-8, second to last in the Eastern Conference, luckily we have Buffalo to keep us out of the cellar. Only six games left before we can put this season to bed. The Cats stay up north to take on the Islanders tomorrow night. Puck drop is at 7. Stay classy, Miami. Hopefully next game we'll get a chance to do that rat thing we do.
-Ben Lugo
Follow us on Twitter: @SouthBeachBeat
Florida really let the game get away in the third period. The offense was stagnant, registering only 5 shots. Jacob Josefson scored short handed to give the Devils some breathing room, sneaking one past Dan Ellis' left side after a turnover. New Jersey never looked back. Zajac got his hat trick with 10:23 left in the game to make it 6-3, which would be the final tonight in Newark, a city not nearly as nice as Sunrise.
Dan Ellis played pretty awful tonight, playing for Luongo who was out with a strained neck. Only saving 26 of 32 for a .813 save percentage. The funny thing though, is he still did better than old man Brodeur, who let in 3 of 9 shots for a .667 save percentage before getting pulled in the second.
Florida now sits at 27-41-8, second to last in the Eastern Conference, luckily we have Buffalo to keep us out of the cellar. Only six games left before we can put this season to bed. The Cats stay up north to take on the Islanders tomorrow night. Puck drop is at 7. Stay classy, Miami. Hopefully next game we'll get a chance to do that rat thing we do.
-Ben Lugo
Follow us on Twitter: @SouthBeachBeat
Injured Panther, Roberto Luongo's rehab for his strained neck is coming along nicely, as evidenced by this picture. He should be back in action later this week.
