Florida started out strong with a few good chances from the first line before matching 5-minute minors were incurred when Shawn Matthias and Rod Pelley dropped the gloves. The Panthers killed off a penalty after Stephen Weiss was called for hooking in the offensive zone. Soon after, the Panthers got on the board when Kulikov pitched it to Weiss off a Devils skate and Kris Versteeg stuffed the rebound home to bring the deficit to 3-1. Five minutes later, Versteeg scored his second of the night with an assist from Jason Garrison. The Panthers finished the period by outshooting the Devils 15 to nine. A few players are starting to wake up a little, as Jack Skille is starting to skate like he did earlier in the season and Tomas Kopecky at times looks like a power fullback bulldozing through the offensive zone strong on the puck. Tune in for what is sure to be an exciting third period in Bank Atlantic Center in Sunrise.
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