EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., Dec. 14 (UPI) -- With a chance to move out of last place in the Atlantic Division, the New Jersey Devils got their wakeup call too late and suffered a 3-2 loss Friday night to the Florida Panthers.
Ivan Novoseltsev gave Florida a 3-0 lead 2:04 into the third period before the Devils tried to rally on goals by Scott Gomez and Patrik Elias less than four minutes apart.
Trevor Kidd held off New Jersey by making 10 of his 26 saves in the third period. New Jersey's John Madden hit the post with 6:18 left.
The Devils had lost just once in their previous six games (4-1-1).
Florida improved to 2-2 since Mike Keenan took over for Duane Sutter, but the Panthers still have the second-lowest point total in the NHL with 21.
With Martin Brodeur taking a rare night off, rookie J.F. Damphousse made just his second appearance of the season in goal for the Devils.
He has lost both his starts, but was a victim of bad luck Friday. Florida took advantage of a faulty line change by the Devils and a fortunate bounce to score its first two goals.
Niklas Hagman got the Panthers on the board with 3:42 remaining in the first period before Marcus Nilson scored on the power play with 8:11 to go in the second to make it 2-0.
The loss snapped New Jersey's four-game home unbeaten streak (3
1).
