Panthers win defensive battle, top Devils in shootout

Anton Lundell scored the deciding goal in the fourth round of the shootout to lift the visiting Florida Panthers to a 2-1 win against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.

Jesper Boqvist scored and Spencer Knight made 25 saves for the Panthers, who snapped a two-game skid (0-1-1).

Nico Hischier scored for the Devils, who are 2-0-2 after a four-game losing streak. Jacob Markstrom made 27 saves.

Boqvist gave Florida a 1-0 lead 41 seconds into the third period. Carter Verhaeghe held on to the puck at the left point before sending it back to Boqvist coming up the right side, and he fired a quick wrist shot from the circle.

Hischier tied it 1-1 at 2:27 with his 20th goal of the season. The New Jersey captain took the puck from behind the net to just above the goal line on the right side for a centering pass intended for Nathan Bastian in front that went off the stick of defenseman Gustav Forsling past Knight.

Hischier is the first Devils player with four consecutive 20-goal seasons since Kyle Palmieri (five straight from 2015-16 to 2019-20) and is the second Swiss-born player to achieve the feat after Kevin Fiala.

Matthew Tkachuk's hit on Hischier less than five minutes into the third led to a skirmish, a New Jersey power play, and an offensive spark for both sides. Knight denied Dougie Hamilton from the left circle on the power play and seconds later, Markstrom got a piece of Anton Lundell's short-handed chance from the slot off the rush.

It was a slow start for both sides with neither recording a shot on goal until nearly six minutes into the first period, when Hischier snapped one from the right circle on the power play.

Florida picked up the pace in the second and tested Markstrom, who held the fort with several stops, including one on defenseman Dmitry Kulikov's snap shot from the right circle.

Hischier had New Jersey's best chance through the first 40 minutes from the right circle on a two-on-one after Forsling fell in the neutral zone.

--Field Level Media