Devils 3 – Panthers 1
SUNRISE, Fla. – The Devils finally heard their coach and threw him a lifeline just as the ice was starting to crack under him.
A victory over the Panthers may only be disaster averted, but last night’s 3-1 Devil triumph here precisely endorsed Larry Robinson’s oft-ignored sermon of Defense First and Patience Always.
“It just proves that when they put their minds to it, they know how to play,” Robinson said hoarsely.
With Pat Burns emerging as the leading unemployed coach available as the team reached a clear crossroads, the Devils tightened their game considerably against Mike Keenan’s Panthers, snapping a tie with a pair of third-period goals.
“If we play like that, we’re going to win a lot more games than we have,” Scott Niedermayer said. “But we’ve had games like this before. The challenge is to do it again.”
The victory was only the Devils’ second in seven games (2-3-1-1), but broke a three-game road losing streak. New Jersey visits Atlanta tonight in the midpoint of a five-game (1-1) road trip.
“One win. A good effort. We’ll take this win, and that’s as much as you can say about it,” Bobby Holik said, before saying more. “Until we can repeat it and do it consistently, there’s nothing to talk about.”
The Devils’ lack of finish was obvious early, again, last night. They were outshooting the Panthers 12-1 when Valeri Kamensky took a foolish elbowing penalty behind the Florida net, and Valeri Bure converted the power play on the next shot at 14:59 of the first.
“What made it more special was that after we played so well in the first and they got that seeing-eye goal, I heard everyone in the room saying to stick with the game plan. We were patient,” Robinson said.
Sergei Brylin scored his fourth in four games to pull the Devils even at 14:12 of the second.
Patrik Elias tipped in Petr Sykora’s slap from the top of the right circle at 1:07 of the third, after Bobby Holik won a faceoff from Jason Wiemer.
Martin Brodeur preserved the lead by turning aside Pavel Bure’s left wing dash midway through the third.
Kamensky made amends for his earlier penalty by scoring a rare Devil insurance goal at 11:31, his first goal with New Jersey.
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Agent Mark Gandler said Bruce Gardiner has been made an unjust scapegoat, demoted to Albany after Monday’s loss. “Basically, he’s the one who has taken the brunt of it,” Gandler said. “Bruce is disappointed, but he’s determined to get back up with the Devils.” GM Lou Lamoriello insisted that Gardiner was not being blamed. “This is no disrespect to Bruce. He did everything that was asked of him while he was here.” Gardiner was 2-1-3 in seven games, and was only minus-1 Monday. … Keenan stands 10-13-1 since taking over from Duane Sutter Dec. 3.