New Jersey Devils Season Ends With A Loss In Florida

The 2014-2015 season for the New Jersey Devils has come to a close tonight in Florida. Coming off an overtime loss on Thursday vs. Tampa Bay, the Devils hoped to end the season tonight with a win against a familiar face. Tonight is the first time Jaromir Jagr would face his old team since they traded him to Florida before the deadline. Cory Schneider got the start tonight as he deserved to since he was undoubtedly the MVP of the New Jersey Devils this season. Veteran defenseman Andy Greene also played tonight which means he played in all of the team’s 82 games this season.

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The New Jersey Devils took a horrid 15 penalties in the two games prior to tonight’s match-up vs. the Panthers. They would take a penalty in the first period tonight, but unlike on Thursday night it would not come back to haunt them. With the team having won just one game in their last 10 (1-6-3), the team hoped to come out strong early in the game to end the season on a winning note.

The New Jersey Devils started the game well, holding the Panthers without a shot until around 7 minutes into the 1st. Then the Panthers would start putting more pressure on the Devils and soon after, Mark Fraser would take a cross-checking penalty. Schneider and the penalty kill unit were able to kill the penalty off, but the Panthers would keep coming the rest of the period. Some big saves by Schneider were the only reason this game went scoreless into the second as the Devils got out-shot 11-5 in the period.

Having been out-shot and essentially outplayed in the first period, the New Jersey Devils came out quick in the second which would lead to their first goal of the night. Jordin Tootoo scored on a one-timer thanks to a Travis Zajac give and go feed to make it 1-0 in favor of New Jersey. The goal for Tootoo put him one goal short of his career high (11) that he set as a member of the Nashville Predators from 2007-2008.

The New Jersey Devils would hold the 1-0 lead until around 10 minutes later in the second when Dave Bolland scored a tip-in off a series of great passes from Brad Boyes and Jussi Jokinen. The Panthers nearly made it 2-1 when Aaron Ekblad put a wrist shot past Schneider, but the goal would be immediately waved off due to incidental contact by Jimmy Hayes. New Jersey out-shot Florida 12-7 in the second period, but would end the period tied at one-a-piece.

The New Jersey Devils came out strong yet again in the third, but this time they would not score first in the period. Jonathan Huberdeau scored on a rebound off a shot from Jagr to give the Panthers the 2-1 lead. Just when you thought the game was with the Devils only taking one penalty, things changed very quickly. After a hard slash from Adam Henrique drew a penalty for Florida, Steve Bernier got called for a kneeing major after he went to hit Steven Kampfer who moved at the last second.

Apr 9, 2015; Sunrise, FL, USA; Florida Panthers center Jonathan Huberdeau (11) celebrates his goal against the Boston Bruins with right wing Jaromir Jagr (68) who got an assist in the third period at BB&T Center. The Panthers won 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports

Bernier clearly wasn’t trying to knee or hurt Kampfer as he was seen bending over to check on Kampfer as he laid hurt on the ice, but a scrum ensued and both Hernique and Bernier would be ejected. Shortly after the scrum Damon Severson broke a 42-game goal drought and put a nasty wrist shot past Al Montoya to tie the game at two. The penalties would unfortunately comeback to haunt them yet again as Jagr was able to out-muscle the Devils defensemen in front and put in a rebound on a four-minute power-play.

The goal gave the Panthers a 3-2 lead and was only fitting that Jagr score the game winner against the same team that traded him earlier in the season. The Devils would kill off the rest of the Panthers power-play and would have just a little bit of time left to try to score an equalizer. Patrik Elias would nearly tie the game when his shot beat Montoya, but hit off the post and the Panthers would hold on to win 3-2.

With the loss tonight, the New Jersey Devils finish the 2014-2015 NHL Regular Season with a record of 32-36-14 (78 points) and will have either the 1st, 6th, or 7th overall pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. They get the 1st overall pick by winning the draft lottery and can only move down to 7th overall if a team with more points than them wins the lottery. They have a 7.5% of winning the lottery and an over 50% chance of picking 6th overall.

We will have a more detailed set of recaps for the season up on the site at some point in the off-season, but our entire staff would like to thank you for all your support this season and for following our posts. We take a lot of pride in what we write and could not do what we do without all your support. Be sure to keep checking the site and our twitter page for all New Jersey Devils off-season content/coverage.

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