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Devils maintain home dominance over Panthers

Jan 3, 2008 - 5:57 AM NEWARK, New Jersey (Ticker) -- The Florida Panthers' first visit to "The Rock" ended in the same fashion as their previous five trips to New Jersey.

Captain Jamie Langenbrunner had a goal and an assist and Martin Brodeur made 31 saves as the New Jersey Devils extended their home winning streak over the Panthers to six games with a 3-2 victory Wednesday.

Noah Clarke and Brian Gionta also tallied for the Devils, who have won five of their last seven games overall.

"We scored three goals. That's kind of a luxury," said Brodeur, whose team was limited to two tallies or fewer in its previous three games. "We definitely need to be a little better. That one period in almost every game, we need to tighten up and be solid."

Losers of their final five visits to New Jersey's former home, the Continental Airlines Arena, the Panthers entered the Prudential Center for the first time with a three-game road winning streak and triumphs in seven of their last eight away from home. But things started out poorly as the Devils grabbed a 1-0 lead just over nine minutes into the contest.

Following a turnover by Florida along the right wing boards in its own zone, Travis Zajac dished to Dainius Zubrus, who carried the puck around the net. From the left side, Zubrus completed a backhand pass to Langenbrunner, who beat goaltender Tomas Vokoun from the doorstep at 9:08 for his sixth goal of the season.

"It was a great play by Travis Zajac and Zubrus," Langenbrunner said. "Dainius was strong on the puck and I was able to get my stick where it needed to be. It was a tough play for the goalie."

Making his debut with the Devils, Clarke doubled the advantage 4 1/2 minutes later. David Clarkson turned over the puck at the Panthers' blue line, but Florida immediately coughed up the puck in its own zone.

Clarke gained possession and skated down the slot before beating Vokoun to the stick side with 6:25 remaining in the first period for his third career tally and a 2-0 bulge.

The 28-year-old California native, who was recalled from Lowell of the American Hockey League on Tuesday, entered with two goals in 20 career games - all with the Los Angeles Kings.

"It's nice to get the win and the first goal," Clarke said. "It was kind of a weird play. Clarkson came over and it was kind of ping pong with the puck going back and forth, creating a little confusion. I made a quick, lateral move and luckily found the corner."

"He gave us what we needed," Devils coach Brent Sutter said. "He had played in the NHL before. That's why he played so well, and that's why he had the ice time (10 minutes, 39 seconds) he had."

David Booth halved the deficit 7 1/2 minutes into the second session, receiving a pass from Stephen Weiss at the bottom of the right faceoff circle, cutting across the bottom of the slot and firing the puck past Brodeur for his ninth goal.

"Weiss and (Nathan) Horton have great vision. They found me me there," Booth said. "I tried to get it on net and it just went under (Brodeur's) arm."

Gionta restored New Jersey's two-goal lead at 3:42 of the third during a 5-on-3 power play. From the right circle, Zach Parise passed to Gionta, who converted an easy tap-in from near the left goalpost for his 12th of the campaign.

Florida defenseman Jay Bouwmeester accepted the blame for the tally.

"That is a little bit on me," he said. "There were two guys there and I sort of went the wrong way. I needed to get my stick down."

The Panthers, who managed just one tally in their previous two games, answered just 84 seconds later as Bouwmeester picked up a rebound in the bottom of the right circle and fired it just under the crossbar to pull Florida within 3-2.

"It was a rebound that sort of rolled," Bouwmeester said. "That's how I was able to get it up on the net."

"I thought we played very well in the first period," Sutter said. "In the second, we backed off of our game a little bit, and in the third, we played OK."

Horton recorded two assists and Vokoun stopped 24 shots for the Panthers, who failed to provide coach Jacques Martin with his 398th career win. Martin remains tied with Glen Sather for 10th place on the all-time list.

"That team keeps you outside on the perimeter," Florida captain Olli Jokinen said. "They let you shoot if you go outside, but Brodeur is able to make the first save. Their defense is there to sweep the rebounds into the corner. What was missing was us getting to the net."