It was a milestone night in Newark for both coaches, although Brent Sutter’s was more of a millstone.
Florida’s Jacques Martin became the 10th coach in NHL history win 500 games, while the Devils lost for the first time after a two-period lead under their rookie coach last night.
“Up 1-0 going into the third in your building, you have to win the hockey game,” Sutter said after the Panthers beat New Jersey 2-1 in Newark.
The Devils had won each of 17 prior times this season they’d led after 40 minutes under Sutter, but that perfection ended as the Devils lost their second straight at home, opening a run of 15-of-18 in Newark on a foul note.
Martin reached his milestone on his fourth try, when Radek Dvorak and David Booth connected in the third period to overcome Travis Zajac’s opening goal.
“I’ve just been very fortunate to work in this league and have some great players,” said Martin, who also coached in St. Louis and Ottawa.
The Devils went 0-for-5 on the power play for the second straight game, and wasted four straight chances to double the lead Zajac gave them in the second. Zajac has scored the Devils’ lone goal in each of their last two.
These two losses have low-lighted New Jersey’s major failing under Sutter, and just about every other coach for the past 15 years – lack of offense. They have scored more than three goals only twice in their last 19 games, one of those via an empty-netter.
The Devils are tied with the Islanders for the fewest goals in the league, and although they and Detroit have allowed the least in the NHL, they’re now struggling to capitalize on that defensive prowess.
Their sole solace was the Penguins’ failure to pass them for the Atlantic Division lead they’ve held since Dec. 7.
Zajac scored his fifth in seven games, all since being reunited with Jamie Langenbrunner and Zach Parise, 1:10 into the second to open the scoring. Along the left boards, Parise intercepted a Panther clearing attempt and fed the slot for Langenbrunner’s shot, blocked to the right front of the paint, where Zajac put away his 10th this year.
The Panthers made the Devils regret their power play failures by taking the lead with two goals in the first 3:45 of the third. Former Ranger Radek Dvorak stepped behind the otherwise unoccupied Vitaly Vishnevski to swat home Brett McLean’s rebound at 1:10, and David Booth put Florida in front by back-dooring Ruslan Salei’s point shot off the end boards at 3:45. The Panthers nursed that lead to snap a three-game winless streak.