SUNRISE, Fla. — Oh, for Pete’s Sake.
This was an epic collapse in a game the Devils’ newish coach wanted so badly.
Payback boomeranged last night on Pete DeBoer, when the Panthers stuffed a three-goal lead back in their former coach’s face, beating the Devils 4-3.
“We got what we deserved,” DeBoer said, the debacle thwarting his bid for a degree of revenge after being fired by the Panthers in April.
Patrik Elias shouldered blame for allowing Stephen Weiss to tie the score with a shorthander in the third, but, really, if it hadn’t been his error, there would have been another the way they imploded.
“Our battle level drops down when we get a lead,” said Elias, who let Weiss escape for a give-and-go breakaway goal.
What should worry the Devils most is that this continues and deepens a trend they were guarding against. They lost in the final minutes in Boston Tuesday and saw a 3-0 lead dwindle to one in Tampa Saturday.
“We have to find a solution,” DeBoer said.
Ilya Kovalchuk sparked the Devils’ first-period outburst, first standing up for teammate Anton Volchenkov, who was flat on the ice after he was buried by Shawn Mattias. Volchenkov, who suffered what he called a slight concussion last season, remained down for minutes, then was helped off the ice, and did not return. The Devils called this injury “facial lacerations.”
Kovalchuk opened the scoring when Henrik Tallinder’s blocked shot fell to him on a right wing rush or his fourth at 8:17. Petr Sykora followed 1:09 later with his fourth, rebounding Adam Larsson’s right point shot, and Dainius Zubrus completed the spree of three goals in a span of seven shots in 3:32 with his eighth. Elias’ assist was superstar special, a faked slap from wide on left wing for a pinpoint, cross-ice pass that Zubrus swept home for his sixth.
Kris Versteeg started Florida back at 5:28 of the second, finding the open side when Dmitry Kulikov’s shot caromed off Ryan Carter. Versteeg then closed the gap to one at 10:40, rebounding Jason Garrison’s left point shot after Tallinder’s outlet up the right boards eluded Kovalchuk.
Florida poured it on in the third, and Weiss tied the score with a 4-on-3 shorthander, a give-and-go he fired over Martin Brodeur’s glove at 9:12.
Tomas Fleischmann won it for Florida when Andy Greene broke his stick in the corner against Weiss, who found Fleischmann alone in front with 2:03 left.