Undermanned Devils Rout Panthers in 7-3 Win | GAME STORY

Playing the surging 10-1-1 Florida Panthers with no Jack Hughes, no Dougie Hamilton, no Miles Wood? No problem for the New Jersey Devils, who pulled out a 7-3 victory Tuesday night at Prudential Center.
It was a fast-paced and thrilling affair that saw several lead changes, but the Devils pulled ahead for good late in the second period on a P.K. Subban goal and sealed it in the third with three more.
Andreas Johnsson tallied twice, while Nico Hischier, Ty Smith, Pavel Zacha and Jimmy Vesey also scored for New Jersey. Alexander Holtz notched his first-career NHL point (assist).
Florida goals came from Sam Bennett, Aleksander Barkov and Owen Tippett. Barkov's goal was his 189th career tally, surpassing Olli Jokinen for first place all-time on Florida's goal-scoring list.

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The Devils continue a three-game homestand against the NY Islanders Thursday night. The game can be seen on MSG+ and heard on the Devils Hockey Network, including right here at NewJerseyDevils.com. Puck drop is 7:08 p.m. ET.
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Here are some observations from the game...
- The story of the 2021-22 season (or at least the first 11 games of it) has been the (re-)emergence of forward Andreas Johnsson.

In 50 games last year, Johnsson scored a mere five goals. It was well short of the expectations of the Devils and Johnsson himself as a former 20-goal scorer in the league. He wanted to show more of his offensive game, and so far he's done exactly that.

It took Johnsson only 11 games to equal, and surpass, his entire goal production of last season. Johnsson scored twice for New Jersey, once on a rebound and the other off the rush. But in both cases he was driving to the net, a theme of his early-season success.

"He's playing right now with a lot of confidence," Hischier said. "He brings good vibes into the locker room. He has a positive attitude. He sucks you in. He makes you laugh when you see him. It feels good to have somebody like that on the team. It's good for the whole team. We're happy with how he's playing right now and he's happy as well."

The Devils believed in Johnsson and that he would rebound this year. He's proven them right.

"Pucks are bouncing my way," Johnsson said. "I'm used to the system and more confident, making more plays. When the puck goes in and get some points my confidence has been growing. So far, so good."

- The Devils' special teams has let them down lately, especially the power play, which had gone scoreless in the last five games (0 for 18). That all changed against the Panthers as New Jersey connected not once, but twice while holding a dangerous Panthers power play scoreless in two tries. Anytime you are a plus-2 in special teams your chances of winning improved dramatically. The Devils special teams was a difference maker tonight. - The Devils have made it a point of emphasis to crash the net and look for tips and rebound opportunities. Those were factors on New Jersey's opening two goals. Johnsson scored on a pass-off-pads rebound shot by Jesper Bratt. The Devils second goal came on Hischier tipping a Ty Smith shot in front for a re-direct tally. New Jersey felt it was doing a good job of getting to the net, but hadn't been rewarded. The club was rewarded in full tonight.

"A lot of the net-front was having people there," head coach Lindy Ruff said. "It was getting people to spaces in a real quick fashion. I thought we did a good job of that."

- What a frantic start to the second period. The opening two minutes (1:58 exactly) featured three goals and two lead changes. It started just 24 seconds into the middle frame on Barkov's goal that tied the score at 2-2. Just 65 seconds later, Tippett would give Florida a 3-2 lead. The Devils responded in 29 seconds by Johnsson to even the game at 3-3. If you blinked, you missed the most exciting 94 seconds of the night.

"It wasn't a great first two shifts. But that shows character too, I think," Hischier said. "We fought back. We scored right away to tie the game and were right back in the game. We know those shifts were not good, cost us two goals."

- The Devils and Panthers both play identical styles. They both play with pace, like to create off the rush, are dangerous in transition and activate their defensemen into the offense. So, it was no surprise that the game was highly up-temp and entertaining. In fact, being able to match style-for-style was a huge benefit to New Jersey. It allowed the team to play to its strengths.

"Sometimes speed can drag other people into the fire. I thought it did," Ruff said. "We got some outside speed, we got our defense joining the rush, which I thought was really important. Once we got the puck we were on the move, it was easy to make a lot of good plays."

- The Devils needed someone to step up in the absence of Hamilton. P.K. Subban has been that guy. His play has been trending up all season, and is peaking of late. He's been defensively responsible, making smart reads and getting involved in the offense. His blast in the third period ended up being the game-winning goal.

Ty Smith, who had been benched as recently as four games ago, enjoyed one of his best night's of the season. He scored his first goal of the year and added two assists for a three-point game and plus-2.

"When I mention the D getting up ice, (Smith) was one of the guys that was real evident. ... He was kind of the leader of getting up ice and making plays. At the end of the night he got rewarded for it."