NHL

Florida Panthers at New Jersey Devils

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Jack Hughes and the Devils deal the Panthers' playoff hopes another blow by beating them 5-1

Florida Panthers vs. New Jersey Devils: Game Highlights

Hughes' shot that went wide banked right to Dougie Hamilton for his goal. Hughes has four assists — one in each game — since the NHL season resumed.

Hamilton, whose name has been involved in trade buzz for several months, also had an assist. It's unclear if the Devils will be able to move the defenseman before the deadline Friday, given that Hamilton has two years remaining on his contract beyond this season at a $9 million salary cap hit and is owed a $7.4 million roster bonus on July 1.

If New Jersey, which looks out of the race, sells elsewhere, depth forward Cody Glass may have boosted his value by scoring his 14th goal of the season. Arseny Gritsyuk also scored, looking off Hughes on a 2 on 1 before beating Sergei Bobrovsky, who was excellent early and finished with 28 saves on 31 shots.

Florida is in danger of becoming the first Cup-winning team to miss the playoffs the following season since the Los Angeles Kings in 2014-15. The Panthers have lost three of four games since the Olympics ended, all of those coming in regulation.

Combined with Boston's victory against Pittsburgh, Florida is 10 points back of the second and final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with just 21 games left to play. Coach Paul Maurice said captain Aleksander Barkov, who's recovering from tearing the ACL and medial collateral ligament in his right knee during training camp, is not expected back until at least late March.

Up next Panthers: At Columbus on Thursday night.

Devils: Host Toronto on Wednesday night.

Regular Season Series

NJ wins series 2-1

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 12:10 Arseny Gritsyuk Goal (10) Snap Shot, assists: Connor Brown (14)
Goal 1st Period 14:37 Anton Lundell Goal (17) Backhand, assists: Evan Rodrigues (17), Uvis Balinskis (10)
Goal 2nd Period 1:35 Dougie Hamilton Goal (9) Wrist Shot, assists: Jack Hughes (28), Jesper Bratt (31)
Goal 2nd Period 8:13 Cody Glass Goal (14) Tip-In, assists: Lenni Hameenaho (3), Dougie Hamilton (16)
Goal 3rd Period 16:23 Dawson Mercer Goal (14) Wrist Shot, assists: none
Goal 3rd Period 19:20 Simon Nemec Goal (9) Wrist Shot, assists: Connor Brown (15), Jack Hughes (29)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/fla.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originFLA https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/nj.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originNJ
9 Blocked Shots 10
33 Hits 17
4 Takeaways 6
21 Shots 33
0 Power Play Goals 0
3 Power Play Opportunities 2
0.0 Power Play Percentage 0.0
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
19 Faceoffs Won 37
33.9 Faceoff Win Percent 66.1
14 Giveaways 13
5 Total Penalties 5
10 Penalty Minutes 10
New Jersey Devils New Jersey Devils Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Brett Pesce, D Out Mar 22
Stefan Noesen, RW Injured Reserve Mar 22
Zack MacEwen, RW Injured Reserve Jan 10
Florida Panthers Florida Panthers Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Anton Lundell, C Out Mar 24
Sam Reinhart, C Out Mar 24
Niko Mikkola, D Injured Reserve Mar 23
Mackie Samoskevich, RW Out Mar 23
Uvis Balinskis, D Out Mar 23

Game Information

Prudential Center

Location: Newark, NJ
Attendance: 15,080 | Capacity:

2025-26 Atlantic Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Buffalo 44 20 95 7
Tampa Bay 43 21 91 5
Montreal 38 21 86 10
Boston 39 23 86 8
Detroit 38 24 84 8
Ottawa 37 24 83 9
Florida 34 32 71 3
Toronto 29 29 71 13

2025-26 Metropolitan Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Carolina 45 19 96 6
Pittsburgh 35 19 86 16
Columbus 37 22 85 11
NY Islanders 40 26 85 5
Philadelphia 34 23 80 12
Washington 35 27 79 9
New Jersey 35 32 72 2
NY Rangers 28 34 65 9
Full Standings