SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Nico Daws stopped almost everything that came his way. The goalposts helped out a little bit as well.
Daws stopped 36 shots, Jesper Bratt scored for the second straight game and the New Jersey Devils snapped Florida’s nine-game winning streak by topping the Panthers 4-1 on Saturday night.
“He made some big saves," Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. “I think you need that. We were undermanned a little bit and I think you've got to rely on your goaltender for quality saves — and he gave us some quality saves.”
Bratt’s goal was his 16th of the season, tying Tyler Toffoli for the New Jersey lead this season. Alexander Holtz and Erik Haula each got their 10th goal of the season for the Devils, who have gotten 13 of a possible 18 points in their last nine games by going 6-2-1.
Daws was making just his fourth appearance of the season for the Devils, who scored the game’s first three goals and sealed it on John Marino's empty-netter with 18.6 seconds left.
“The more games that I play, the more confident that I get,” said Daws, who improved to 3-0-0 on the road this season. “I'm feeling really good about my game right now.”
Sam Reinhart got his 31st goal for Florida, and Sergei Bobrovsky — announced as an All-Star selection earlier in the day when fan voting was revealed — stopped 18 shots for the Panthers.
By Florida coach Paul Maurice's count, his team hit the post six times. He tipped his cap to Daws regardless.
“Their guy had a really big night,” Maurice said.
Reinhart has 13 goals in his last 10 games and has scored in each of the last six for Florida. Matthew Tkachuk and Brandon Montour got the assists on Reinhart’s power-play goal that made it 3-1 late in the second.
Tkachuk's point streak stretched to eight games; he’s got seven goals and 10 assists in that span.
The nine-game winning streak was the third-longest in any Panthers season, behind only a 13-game run from March 29-April 23, 2022 and a 12-game stretch from Dec. 15, 2015 through Jan. 10, 2016. The Panthers remained No. 2 in the Eastern Conference with the loss, behind only Atlantic Division rival Boston.
Bobrovsky said he considers it a privilege to be picked as an All-Star.
“It's an honor to represent our franchise at that event,” Bobrovsky said. “It's great to be in that group with the young, superstar generation goalies. It's special.”
The Panthers celebrated Pride Night, which included, among other promotions, several players using pride-themed tape on their sticks for warmups, the national anthem being performed by the Gay Men’s Chorus of South Florida and the team’s foundation auctioning exclusive Pride jerseys with all proceeds benefiting local South Florida LGBTQ+ organizations.
In 2013, Florida was the first NHL team to play host to a pride night.
UP NEXT
Devils: Visit Boston on Monday afternoon.
Panthers: Host Anaheim on Monday afternoon.
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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
Tim Reynolds, The Associated Press
