5 TAKEAWAYS: Devils 4, Panthers 2

SUNRISE, Fla. -Playing their second straight game without captain Aleksander Barkov (lower body), the Panthers saw a third-period lead slip through their fingers in a 4-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils at FLA Live Arena on Wednesday.
With the loss, Florida now sits at 15-15-4 in the standings.
"I think we've said before that it's always next man up," Panthers defenseman Josh Mahura said of the team's ongoing battle with the injury bug. "Regardless of who's in the lineup, we always expect to play our best. Whoever's in is expected to pick up roles. It's tough, but we've got one more game to get it to going before the break."
For a quick recap of the game, click
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.
To read up on five key takeaways for the Cats, continue below.

1. STAAL SIZZLES

There goes that man again!
Netting his second goal in as many games, Eric Staal got the Panthers on the board early against the Devils when he inserted himself into a scramble around the net, found a loose puck and fired it past Mackenzie Blackwood to make it 1-0 just 4:45 into the first period.
On a nice run, Staal has earned a point in eight of his last 11 games.

"He's been coming on here the last couple weeks," Panthers forward Nick Cousins said. "It's been fun to play with him. He's obviously a big body, played a lot of games in this league and is a Stanley Cup winner. He's really good on faceoffs and helps our line start with the puck. He's been a lot of fun to play with."
With 444 goals in his career, Staal ranks fifth among active players in goals behind Alex Ovechkin (800), Sidney Crosby (535), Steven Stamkos (497) and Evgeni Malkin (455).
Per NHL Public Relations, at 38 years old, Staal is also the first Panthers player aged 38 or older to score in consecutive games since Jaromir Jagr did back in 2016-17 at 45 years old.

2. LUOSTAR-ENAISSANCE

Eetu Luostarinen's breakout season is only just getting started.
Coming within one goal of matching his career-high with plenty of games left to play, the Finnish forward scored his eighth of the season when he ripped a shot past Blackwood from the slot on the power play to put the Panthers up 2-1 at 16:12 of the second period.

On a three-game point streak, Luostarinen has produced 18 points (eight goals, 10 assists) in 34 games while moving all over the lineup to plug holes for the Panthers.
Always effective in terms of puck possession, Luostarinen has helped the Panthers control more than 50% of shot attempts when he's been on the ice at 5-on-5 in eight of his last 10 contests.

3. LUNDELL RETURNS

Out since Dec. 1 with an upper-body injury, Anton Lundell didn't skip a beat in his return.
Centering a line with Luostarinen and Sam Reinhart, the 21-year-old recorded an assist, two shots on goal and won 57% of his faceoffs over 14:10 of ice time against the Devils.
"With the injury that he had, he couldn't do a lot of work while he was healing," Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. "I thought he was real good. I was concerned about the faceoff circle, but that wasn't an issue for him. That line was good."
Very good.
Per NaturalStatTrick.com, the Panthers led 18-5 in shot attempts, 5-3 in shots on goal and 8-2 in scoring chances when the line of Lundell, Luostarinen and Reinhart was on the ice at 5-on-5.
"I felt great," Lundell said. "It's been a long time and a tough time to be out. A lot of rehab and just trying to get myself back to games as soon as possible. I'm finally happy that I'm able to rejoin the team, bring positive energy and help the team to create chances."
In 25 games this season, Lundell has produced 14 points (four goals, 10 assists).

4. BLOCK PARTY

When asked about what stood out against the loss to the Devils, Maurice pointed to the big discrepancy in blocked shots between the two clubs, citing in particular Yegor Sharangovich's game-winning goal on a re-direction in the third period that put the Devils up 3-2 at 10:10.
In the end, New Jersey finished with a 27-11 lead in blocked shots.
"Shot blocking, probably," Maurice said. "The stats will be fairly even in some. I think we had a better offensive look, but we had 27 blocked and we managed to block 11. That was the point shot that got to our net."
After losing Ryan Graves to an injury early in the first period, the remaining five defensemen for the Devils stepped up in way to contain the Cats by combining to block 19 shots. Brendan Smith led the way for the group with seven blocks, while Damon Severson wasn't far behind with five.

5. BETWEEN THE PIPES

Sergei Bobrovsky once again put the Panthers in a position to win.
Turning aside 29 of 32 shots, the veteran netminder was cool, calm and collected between the pipes while facing a tough test from start to finish against the Devils.
Per NaturalStatTrick.com, Bobrosky stared down 11 high-danger shots against New Jersey and stopped 10 of them.
"He's been unbelievable lately giving us a chance to win every single time he's in the net," Mahura said. "That's all you expect from your goalies, to give you a chance. He's doing that every night for us. It's a tough one for us to let that slip for him."
Starting seven of the last eight games, Bobrovsky owns a .920 save percentage in that stretch.