Having A Devil Of A Time by Dave Joseph for floridapanthers.com

The Panthers showed 19,250 fans Saturday evening at BankAtlantic Center just how good they can be.

Florida Panthers center Stephen Weiss (9) falls to the ice as he fights for the puck with New Jersey Devils right wing David Clarkson (23) in the first period during a hockey game in Sunrise, Fla. Saturday, Oct. 6, 2007.(AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Unfortunately, they did it for only 20 minutes.

In a game similar to the one they played Thursday against the Rangers, the Panthers started off strong but finished with a whimper, allowing three unanswered goals and losing to the Devils 4-1.

“Basically, we’re looking at two games,” said GM and coach Jacques Martin, who watched his team play 40 strong minutes against the Rangers before melting down at Madison Square Garden. “The first period was an outstanding performance and then, after that, we tried to be fancy and you can’t be successful that way. You know, we didn’t get any saves, either. We gave them three goals.”

For the second consecutive game, the Panthers allowed a goal in the opening seconds of the game. Just 1:02 into the game, the Devils broke away on a three-on-one and got a goal when John Madden beat Tomas Vokoun.

The Panthers tied the game at one at 9:13 of the first period when, on the power play, Stephen Weiss passed cross-ice across the crease to Cory Murphy, who scored his first NHL goal.

The Panthers outshot the Devils 21-9 in the first period. But with Kevin Weekes standing on his head in goal in place of Martin Brodeur, the Devils scored three unanswered goals and the Panthers could take only 13 more shots at Weekes over the final two periods.

Two of the Devils three goals came on the power play, one when the Panthers were serving a too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty and another for delay-of-game.

Game Highlights
Starting Lineups
Panthers		Devils
Jokinen	C	Elias
Peltonen	LW	Zubrus
Stumpel	RW	Clarkson
Salei	D	Martin
Mezei	D	Oduya
Vokoun	G	Weekes
Post-Game Video
Jacques Martin Tomas Vokoun
Quote of the Game
"There's 80 games left. We shouldn't panic, but then again, we have to win and we have to win quickly because you find out it's hard to catch teams from behind later in the season." - goaltender Tomas Vokoun.
Stat of the Game
Panthers defenseman Cory Murphy scored his first NHL goal in the first period to tie the game at one as the Cats were on a 5-on-3 powerplay.
3 Stars of the Game (floridapanthers.com)
1. Kevin Weekes 2. John Madden 3. Cory Murphy

Weekes, who finished the night with 32 saves, “played good,” said forward David Booth. “But no excuses for us,” he added. “We have to get more traffic in front so he doesn’t see the shots. And we need to get more shots. I know in the first period we had more shots, but after that we didn’t.”

Martin said the Devils goals came on bad decisions by the Panthers.

“The first goal was a bad decision by our defenseman to pinch, giving them a three on one,” he said. “Goals two and three? Tomas got to get them. He misplayed the puck out of the net, the second one. And the third one the same thing. They had chances, but we beat ourselves.”

Vokoun, who has allowed nine goals in his first two games, said; “We have to get better. It’s me playing everything, stopping everything. It’s guys scoring. We’re not doing enough.”

The Panthers have three days to learn how to put together 60 minutes. They play Wednesday at Tampa.