Scott Clemmensen’s revenge: Panthers beat Devils 4-2

Clemmensen stops 26 shots, Panthers win 4-2

NEWARK, N.J. — Scott Clemmensen made 26 saves to beat his former teammates, Michael Frolik scored twice and the Florida Panthers ended a four-game losing streak with a 4-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Friday night.

Jordan Leopold and Shawn Matthias also scored, and Nathan Horton and Stephen Weiss each had two assists to help Florida improve to 2-5-4 in its last 11 games.

Brian Rolston and Dean McAmmond scored for New Jersey. The Devils who had won four in a row and seven of their previous eight.

Clemmensen, Brodeur’s backup for most of his career, faced the Devils for the first time. He saved the Devils last season when Brodeur went down with a biceps injury that required surgery. Clemmensen stepped in to win 25 games, a performance that earned him a free-agent contract with the Panthers.

Leopold scored an early goal, providing a big lift for the struggling team that had scored only five goals in its previous four games. Florida worked an effective cycle deep in the Devils’ zone with Horton and Weiss controlling the puck before sliding it to Leopold for a drive from above the left hash mark 3:53 into the game.

Frolik and Matthias connected 55 seconds apart in the second to make it 3-0.

Frolik displayed some fancy stick work to net a power-play goal at 2:34. Having already skated across the slot, Frolik reached back to deflect Keith Ballard’s shot from the left point past Brodeur.

In short order, the Panthers had their third goal as Steven Reinprecht flipped a shot on net from the right circle that Matthias deflected home.

The Devils finally broke through on Clemmensen when Rolston scored at 7:16 on a shot from the top of the left circle.

New Jersey crept closer when McAmmond scored 1:05 into the third. McAmmond banked a shot off Ballard’s skate for his first tally as a Devil.

Just when it looked as if the game was slipping away from Florida, Frolik came through again at 2:23. Sprung for a breakaway by a long lead pass from Horton, Frolik flipped a forehand over Brodeur’s right pad.

NOTES: Florida scratched C Gregory Campbell (possible concussion) and LW Kenndal McArdle. The Devils scratches were LW Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond (recalled from Lowell of the AHL on Thursday), LW Andrew Peters and D Matt Corrente. … Clemmensen was cheered by the Prudential Center crowd when the starting lineups were announced. … Even with the loss, the Devils still posted their best start after 30 games: 21-8-1.