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BOX SCORE
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) -- Patrik Elias had plenty of time to make the
Florida Panthers pay again.
Elias scored the game-winner with 1:33 remaining to lead the New
Jersey Devils over the Florida Panthers 2-1 Wednesday night. Last
January 26, he scored the game-winner with 1.7 left on Florida's
home ice after a turnover by Robert Svehla.
|  | | Martin Brodeur rebounded from his last start, when he was pulled in the second period vs. the Capitals. |
With traffic in front of the net, Elias put the puck past
Roberto Luongo after it bounced off Florida's Jaroslav Spacek.
Bobby Holik and Petr Sykora assisted.
"Petr tried to throw the puck to the net and it hit Bobby's leg
and came right to me," Elias said. "Last year, I took longer."
The Panthers are winless in seven games, and haven't defeated
New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur in 13 games (10-0-3) dating to
April 9, 1997. Brodeur notched 20 saves to improve to 3-2-1.
"The bounces turned my way," Brodeur said. "I've had a rough
time lately. It was nice to make a difference."
Brodeur was pulled in the second period of his last start, a 5-2
loss at Washington, and he entered the night with the league's
third-worst save percentage in the league. That didn't seem to
matter against the punchless Panthers who have scored only 10 goals
this year.
"We had more scoring chances against this team tonight than
we've had in the last two years and we didn't capitalize on them,"
Florida coach Terry Murray said. "There were plenty of situations
where we had the game, and we're just not putting the puck in the
net when the opportunities are presenting themselves."
Florida, which entered 4-for-34 on the power play, converted on
its first chance with the man advantage.
With four seconds remaining on the power play, after Ken Sutton
was whistled for a cross-check, Spacek scored for Florida when he
flicked the puck past Brodeur on a deflection off a stick at 5:53
of the first.
Ray Whitney and Bret Hedican assisted on the goal.
Pavel Bure, held without a point in four straight, had two
chances after Spacek scored but couldn't convert from behind the
net.
In the first minute of the second period, Olli Jokinen just
missed for the Panthers when his shot bounded off the right post.
It was that kind of night for the Panthers, who lost 3 of 4
regular-season meetings to the Devils last season.
"The Panthers seem to have some bad breaks against us. We seem
to find a way to win," New Jersey's Ken Daneyko said.
With 8:25 left in the second, Denis Shvidki scored for the
Panthers, but the goal was disallowed because officials called
Peter Worrell for interfering with Brodeur in the crease.
"It's a two-goal swing," Murray said.
That turned out to be a key call because 1:15 later Alexander
Mogilny put the puck past Luongo to tie it at 1. Sergei Brylin
controlled the puck behind the boards and sent it in the slot to
Mogilny, who notched his third goal of the season when he one-timed
it through the legs of Luongo.
With 16 seconds left in the period, Luongo made a great glove
save on a shot by Turner Stevenson even though he was on his
stomach.
This was the first meeting of the clubs since the Devils swept
the Panthers in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs
in April en route to the Stanley Cup.
Thus far, the Devils haven't looked like that team.
"I didn't like the way we started, I liked the way we
finished," New Jersey coach Larry Robinson said.
Game notes
The Panthers blue line was shorthanded with defensemen
Mike Wilson (dislocated shoulder and fractured arm), Brad Ference
(broken jaw) and Lance Pitlick (hand bruise) missing the game.
Because of the injuries right wing Paul Laus was again moved back
to defense. ... D Todd Simpson (broken toe) did return for Florida.
... The Panthers' longest winless streak was a 16-game stretch
(0-15-1) in February 1998. ... Devils coach Larry Robinson was
inducted into the Ottawa Hall of Fame last night. ... New Jersey LW
Jay Pandolfo missed his fourth game with a bruised left shoulder,
but he is traveling with the team. ... Florida C Viktor Kozlov
injured his left shoulder and didn't return..
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
New Jersey Clubhouse
Florida Clubhouse
RECAPS
Buffalo 4
Carolina 1
San Jose 3
Columbus 1
Detroit 5
Tampa Bay 1
New Jersey 2
Florida 1
Ottawa 3
Pittsburgh 2
Toronto 6
Minnesota 1
Vancouver 6
Dallas 2
Colorado 2
Nashville 1
Atlanta 3
Edmonton 1
Los Angeles 6
Anaheim 2
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Jaroslav Spacek fires it past Martin Brodeur on the power play.
avi: 1018 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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