Devils dim Panthers playoff hopes in dominating victory

Dougie Hamilton had a goal and an assist, and Jack Hughes and Connor Brown each had two assists in the New Jersey Devils' 5-1 win over the visiting Florida Panthers on Tuesday in Newark, N.J.

The Devils are on a two-game winning streak, though the club remains in third-to-last place in the Eastern Conference. Florida is only a point ahead of New Jersey and nine points ahead of the Rangers, as the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions face long odds just to return to the playoffs.

Arseny Gritsyuk, Cody Glass, Dawson Mercer, and Simon Nemec scored the Devils' other goals.

Jacob Markstrom stopped 20 of 21 shots to earn his 17th win in 32 starts this season.

Hamilton has 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) over his last 20 contests. The veteran defenseman has been rumored as a trade candidate with the NHL's trade deadline approaching on Friday.

The Panthers are on a three-game losing streak, and are 2-8-0 in their last 10 games.

Anton Lundell scored Florida's only goal, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 28 of 31 shots.

The Devils had several dangerous scoring chances early in the first period, and finally broke through at the 12:10 mark. Gritsyuk used Hughes as a decoy during a 2-on-1 rush, with Gritsyuk taking the shot himself and scoring.

At 14:37 of the first period, Lundell equalized with his 15th goal of the season and 200th career NHL point. Evan Rodrigues' point shot hit Lundell in front of the net, and Lundell quickly re-adjusted and converted the close-range shot.

Hamilton restored New Jersey's lead 1:35 into the second period. After Hughes sent a shot off the boards, the puck deflected in position for Hamilton to bury the rebound.

A canny tip-in from Glass led to the Devils' next goal at 8:13 of the second frame. Glass' goal came just seconds after a fantastic Bobrovsky save on a Jesper Bratt tuck-in attempt, as the Devils continued to bring the offensive pressure.

New Jersey went into defensive lockdown mode in the third period, outshooting Florida by a 12-2 margin in the final frame. Mercer and Nemec each scored an empty-net goal within the last four minutes of play.

--Field Level Media