Devils Beat Panthers

Cats lose fourth in a row in New Jersey

Ilya Kovalchuk had a goal and two assists, Jason Arnott scored twice and the resurgent New Jersey Devils extended their winning streak to four with a 5-2 victory over the Florida Panthers on Sunday.

Brian Rolston and Patrik Elias also scored for the Devils, who have picked up points in seven straight games (6-0-1). Their only blip during the surge was a 3-2 overtime loss at Florida on Jan. 15. Martin Brodeur made 24 saves.

The Devils are trying to climb out of a huge hole. They fell to the bottom of the NHL standings with a 10-29-2 record before the hot streak, a slide that cost coach John MacLean his job just before Christmas.

With Jacques Lemaire back behind the bench, New Jersey has turned it around and has recent wins over the Tampa Bay Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins -- all Eastern Conference powers.

Shawn Matthias and Marty Reasoner scored for the Panthers, who have dropped four in a row since beating the Devils.

New Jersey grabbed a 2-0 lead on first-period goals by Kovalchuk and Arnott. Kovalchuk deflected Andy Greene's slapper from the right point at 4:20 for his team-leading 14th goal. The Devils' pressure in the closing seconds paid off as Arnott whipped a backhander past Scott Clemmensen at 19:58.

That was the last shot Clemmensen faced as Jacob Markstrom, recalled Sunday morning from Rochester (AHL), replaced him to start the second period. Markstrom, a 20-year-old from Sweden, made his NHL debut.

Clemmensen yielded two goals on eight shots.

Matthias got Florida back in the game, snapping a shot past Brodeur at 7:22 of the second, but the Devils got the next two goals in the period, both on the power play.

Rolston scored on a blast from the right point at 12:48 and Elias beat Markstrom from the bottom of the right circle at 17:19 for his fifth goal in the last seven games.

Kovalchuk assisted on both second-period goals.

In the third, Reasoner popped home a rebound at 5:56 to trim the Devils lead to 4-2 before Arnott closed out the scoring with an empty-netter.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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