Hall sets Devils record in loss to Panthers

Taylor Hall extended his point streak to 16 games to set a New Jersey Devils record in a 3-2 loss to the Florida Panthers at BB&T Center on Thursday.
Aleksander Barkov scored twice, Maxim Mamin had a goal, and Roberto Luongo made 29 saves for the Panthers (30-25-6), who won their fourth straight. Florida is three points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

"Aleksander Barkov is one of the best players in the NHL every night; it wasn't just tonight," Luongo said. "He doesn't get enough credit. As teammates, we know what we have, but it's about time he started getting more recognition League-wide."
WATCH: [All Devils vs. Panthers highlights\]
Hall scored his NHL career-high 28th goal, on the power play, off a wrist shot from just above the right circle that deflected off the stick of Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad 50 seconds into the second period to tie the game 1-1. Hall has 21 points (11 goals, 10 assists) during his streak, the longest in the NHL this season.
He has 33 points (16 goals, 17 assists) while scoring at least one point in 23 straight games, a stretch that was interrupted when he missed three games Jan. 22-25 with a right hand/thumb injury.
"He hasn't gotten any cheap points," Devils goalie Cory Schneider said. "It seems every goal or assist he gets it's a direct pass or nice play. This isn't some sort of fake second assist streak. He's been directly involved in most if not all of them, so I think it's a testament to how good he's been and what he's meant to our team."
Jesper Bratt scored his first goal in 19 games, Pat Maroon had two assists in his Devils debut, and Schneider made 26 saves for New Jersey (33-23-8), which leads the Blue Jackets by five points for the first wild card from the East. Schneider returned after missing the past 16 games with a groin/hip injury.

Mamin gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead at 8:38 of the third period when his shot from along the goal line deflected off the left shoulder of Schneider and into the net.
"I take responsibility for every goal that goes in; it's my job to keep them out," Schneider said. "I don't know how much I would have done differently; I wasn't cheating or on my knees anticipating. I was standing up and it just happened to hit a four-inch section off my shoulder and [go] into the net, so not a great one to go in there with [11] minutes left. I need to come up with the saves on bad bounces."
Barkov extended the lead to 3-1 off a backhand at 16:26.
"We've been playing really well, winning games and finding a way to win [tight] games," Barkov said. "That gives us a lot of confidence winning games like that."

Bratt scored at 17:53 with Schneider pulled for an extra attacker to cut the lead to 3-2.
Barkov gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 6:51 of the first period. He skated down the left wing and had his pass attempt into the slot deflect off the left skate of Devils rookie Nico Hischier and past Schneider. Devils coach John Hynes challenged the play for goalie interference on Panthers forward Nick Bjugstad, but the goal was upheld.
"We're limiting the odd-man rushes and that's a key for us," Luongo said. "We don't want to be a team that's trading chances. We're a good team when we're controlling the puck in the offensive zone and using our speed to an advantage. When we don't turn the puck over, it's beneficial for what we want to do."

Goal of the game

Barkov's goal at 16:26 of the third period.

Save of the game

Luongo stops Miles Wood at 17:26 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Hall's goal 50 seconds into the second period.

They said it

"We just didn't play thorough enough to win the game. Even our puck management, when we're coming from behind, wasn't very good. We didn't play as hard, as detailed or committed enough as we need to do to win, and that's what we got." -- Devils coach John Hynes
"I have to thank the medical staff; we've put in a lot of work and hours to make sure that once I returned to the lineup (on Feb. 17), that I was 100 percent healthy and feeling good. Even I'm in a little bit of shock with how good it's been since I've been back and I just want to keep it going." -- Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo

Need to know

Maroon, acquired by the Devils in a trade with the Edmonton Oilers on Monday, had three shots on goal and two hits in 13:16. ... Barkov, who has a NHL career-high 61 points (23 goals, 38 assists), had four shots on goal, three blocked shots and was 17-for-23 (74 percent) on face-offs. … Luongo is 5-1-0 with a 2.48 GAA and .927 save percentage since returning from a lower-body injury on Feb. 17.

What's next

Devils:At the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET; FS-CR, MSG+, NHL.TV)
Panthers:Host the Buffalo Sabres on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET; TVAS, FS-F, MSG-B, NHL.TV)