Remember Me?

Florida opened the scoring midway

Oct 16th 2016, 10:16

ElvaFeng

Joined: Oct 16th 2016, 08:42
Total Topics: 4
Total Posts: 4
SUNRISE, Fla. AP The Florida Panthers all took the ice for warmups wearing No. 16 jerseys with Fernandez on the back, a tribute to late Miami Marlins ace Jose Fernandez.

How fitting, then, that the Panthers real No. 16 got the game winner in overtime.

Aleksander Barkov scored 2 48 into the extra session, and the Panthers topped the New Jersey Devils 2 1 on Thursday night in the season opener for both teams.

You can tell that something s been going on, Panthers defenseman Michael Matheson said, especially now that No. 16 gets the overtime winner.

Matheson set up the winner Keith Kinkaid Jersey, knocking New Jersey s Damon Severson off the puck behind the net http://www.devilsteamgear.com/andy-greene-jersey-c-19.html, then spinning and finding Barkov alone in the right circle. Barkov one timed the puck past Cory Schneider, and the Panthers spilled onto the ice in celebration.

He was my favorite baseball player, Barkov said of Fernandez, who was killed in a boating accident last month. I don t really watch baseball http://www.devilsteamgear.com/jon-merrill-jersey-c-22.html, but I knew him, I knew he was playing in Miami and it was a big loss for all of South Florida and for all of America.

Roberto Luongo stopped 23 shots for Florida, the last two of those coming in the final 2 minutes of regulation. Schneider stopped 32 shots for the Devils, including all 16 he faced in the third period.

They came at us pretty hard in the third but we got a point, Schneider said. A couple breakdowns in the overtime and they put it in.

Panthers 2, Devils 1 OT

Michael Matheson s big hit helps lead to Panthers OT winner
Roberto Luongo makes 23 saves in Panthers season opening victory
Gerard Gallant on Panthers opening night win It was a fun game
Panthers LIVE Penalty kill was excellent vs. Devils
Florida Panthers Opening Night player introductions
Florida Panthers pay tribute to Jose Fernandez
Box score

P.A. Parenteau, claimed off waivers from the New York Islanders earlier this week http://www.devilsteamgear.com/devante-smithpelly-jersey-c-18.html, scored for the Devils. Jonathan Marchessault got the scoring for the night started for Florida.

And without Luongo s heroics late, Panthers fans wouldn t have gone home happy.

He stopped Taylor Hall s one timer from the low slot as a mass of bodies swarmed his crease, then got his glove out just far enough to grab Andy Greene s slap shot from the left point with 29.9 seconds remaining.

Florida controlled play in the OT, and got its first home overtime win since March 30, 2013 also against New Jersey.

That s my fault there, Severson said of the final play against Matheson. I got the puck in the corner, won the battle, and I tried to go behind the net. I heard reverse. I knew we had tired guys out there and I didn t want to just throw it away. I ended up tripping up on the skate and there was a back door play there. Tough play to end the game.

The Devils went to the Stanley Cup final in 2012 and haven t seen the postseason since, in a rebuilding place where Florida seemed to be perpetually stuck until the last couple seasons. The Panthers won the Atlantic Division last season and even without injured forwards Nick Bjugstad and Jonathan Huberdeau to start the season think they have enough to contend for a title.

We start a new era of the Florida Panthers this year, Panthers owner Vincent Viola said before the game. You ll see new uniforms on the team, you re going to see a whole bunch of new faces on the ice ... and there s only one purpose and one mission to win the Stanley Cup.

The first two goals of the night bounced off Devils skaters.

Florida opened the scoring midway through the first when Marchessault s shot was saved by Schneider, who actually knocked the puck into defenseman Ben Lovejoy and watched it ricochet into the net. New Jersey tied it in the final minute of the period, when Yohann Auvitu s shot from the right point was deflected by a leaping Parenteau.

That was it, until Barkov s dramatic winner.

Unbelievable, Panthers coach Gerard Gallant said.
signiture