Although the New Jersey Devils were hosting a backup goaltender and several minor leaguers, they flopped against the Florida Panthers.  The Devils, who played in front of 15,203, failed to capitalize on five power play opportunities, en route to their second consecutive home loss.  The Panthers defeated the Devils 2-1 behind spectacular play by reserve netminder Craig Anderson, timely scoring and strong penalty killing.

After a scoreless opening period, the Devils came out even stronger in the second frame.  Travis Zajac knocked in his fifth goal in the past seven games, assisted by linemates Jamie Langenbrunner and Zach Parise.  With Zajac’s early goal just 1:10 into the period, the Devils maintained a 1-0 lead.

For the remainder of the period, the Devils had several opportune chances, including four consecutive man advantages over a nine-minute stretch.  They went 0-4 last night, and are now 0-for-12 in their last three games.

Anderson, a former Chicago Blackhawks 2001 draft pick, who was later traded to the Panthers in 2006, preserved the one-goal deficit, stopping 25 shots over the first 40 minutes of action.

Before the Devils blinked, Radek Dvorak and David Booth scored goals 1:17 apart to give Florida the 2-1 advantage, merely 3:15 into the final period.

Dvorak was situated perfectly for a rebound while Booth used a fortunate deflection off the end boards to find the open net.  Brett McLean and Kamil Kreps were credited with assists on the former Rangers forward’s fifth goal of the season.

Ruslan Salei and Gregory Campbell helped Booth’s 13th of the season.

Florida might have taken the early lead if not for a little bit of G Martin Brodeur in its way.

At 4:44 of the opening frame, Richard Zednik seemingly had an open net, until Brodeur somehow someway saved the puck.  Brodeur, who stopped 25 shots in the loss, dropped to 24-15-2.

With the win, Anderson improved to 2-4-1 on the season.

The Devils did not fall in the standings though, as visiting Tampa Bay upset Pittsburgh 3-0.  More importantly, Sidney Crosby left the game in the first period after crashing into the boards.

Early reports indicate that he has a high ankle sprain and will likely miss significant time with the same injury that has plagued goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who has not played in over a month and will likely miss another month before returning.

In the meanwhile, Ty Conklin has filled in remarkably since being called up from the minors.  Tonight, he earned his first regulation defeat this season, falling to 10-1-1.

The Devils will host Toronto on Sunday night at 5:00 p.m., whereas Florida immediately departed for the nation’s capital, for an important divisional battle with Washington.

With two straight losses at home, the Devils matched their season high two-game home losing streak established on Nov. 14-16.  It is only the second time this season the Devils have lost two consecutive home contests, a territory they must familiarize themselves with, considering they are in the middle of a grueling stretch against playoff-bounds teams and will play 15 of 18 at the Prudential Center.

Notes:

With the win, Panthers head coach Jacque Martin became the 10th coach to earn his 500th career win behind the bench.

The Devils, who are the league's lowest scoring team, played without Jay Pandolfo, John Madden and Cam Janssen in the lineup.  Madden was recently added after he suffered a laceration to his ankle in the Devils 3-2 win at Buffalo.

D Karel Rachunek returned after a 10-game absence due to an ankle injury.

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