Devils score seven in win against Panthers

NEWARK, N.J. -- Andreas Johnsson scored twice for the New Jersey Devils in a 7-3 win against the Florida Panthers at Prudential Center on Tuesday

Ty Smith had a goal and two assists, and P.K. Subban and Nico Hischier each had a goal and an assist for the Devils (6-3-2), who have a three-game point streak (2-0-1). Mackenzie Blackwood made 35 saves for his first win of the season.
Johnsson, who scored five goals in 50 games in 2020-21, is tied with Pavel Zacha for the Devils lead with six in 11 this season.
"I feel like the puck is bouncing a little bit my way now," Johnsson said. "I'm more confident making some more plays when the pucks come in. My confidence has been growing ... so far, so good."

Aleksander Barkov became the all-time leading goal-scorer for the Panthers (10-2-1), who have lost their past two games. Spencer Knight made 24 saves and played on consecutive days for the first time in his NHL career; he made 14 saves in a 4-3 loss at the New York Rangers on Monday.
"This is a real good experience for [Knight]; back-to-back in the NHL is tough and I thought he battled," Florida coach Andrew Brunette said. "I mean, we didn't help him. I guess some of the breakdowns were pretty glaring."
Sam Bennett scored on backhand at the right post to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 3:53 of the first period.
Johnsson tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 15:46 of the first, and Hischier scored 1:59 later on a tip from the slot to give New Jersey a 2-1 lead at 17:45.
"I think his skating has been a lot better since last year," Devils coach Lindy Ruff said of Johnsson. "His endurance inside the game and even the compete ... it's better. I think when you're skating better, you're compete is easier."
Barkov tied it 2-2 on a snap shot from the bottom of the left face-off circle 24 seconds into the second period. The goal was his 189th for Florida, passing Olli Jokinen, who scored 188 from 2000-08.
"I know so many great players played in this organization and Olli Jokinen played for a long time and played unbelievable hockey here," Barkov said. "To be in the same category with him was never even a dream and now it's like reality."

Owen Tippett redirected a centering pass from Gustav Forsling to give the Panthers a 3-2 lead at 1:29 of the second period, but Johnsson tied it again 29 seconds later at 1:58 with a wrist shot to make it 3-3.
"I feel like we matched their skating," Johnsson said. "We tried to take advantage of them playing [Monday], and I feel like we played really smart. We made mistakes in the second period when we got down, but overall (I) feel like we played a smart game today."
Subban gave the Devils a 4-3 lead with his first of the season at 18:15 of the second.
Zacha scored a power-play goal on a rebound at 4:44 of the third period to make it 5-3, and Smith extended the lead 29 seconds later with a shot from the left point at 5:13 to make it 6-3.

Jimmy Vesey scored an empty-net goal at 16:11 for the 7-3 final.
"We knew they were coming in from a back-to-back so we couldn't give them easy offense; they're really dangerous when you do that," Hischier said. "We had to outcompete them. I think we did a good job and, in the end, it's a win that shows we can beat really good teams."
NOTES: New Jersey, which entered with the 30th-ranked power play in the NHL, went 2-for-4 with the man-advantage. … Florida lost for the first time this season when scoring first (8-1-0). … Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (upper-body injury) dressed for the first time in three games and served as backup. ... Bennett played for the time in five games due to an upper-body injury. He had four shots in 16:58 of ice time. … Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton missed his third straight game with a lower-body injury. Ruff said Hamilton didn't "feel like he was quite ready" to play. ... New Jersey rookie forward Dawson Mercer and defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler each had two assists.