EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- Less than three weeks into the season, the New Jersey Devils have yet to establish a dominating presence on home ice.
Defenseman Jay Bouwmeester and Olli Jokinen scored 42 seconds apart late in the third period as the Florida Panthers kept the Devils winless at Continental Airlines Arena with a 2-1 triumph.
The Devils have finished above .500 at home in 14 straight seasons, including a 25-11-3-2 mark in 2002-03. En route to their third Stanley Cup championship, the Devils posted an NHL-record 12 home victories.
But New Jersey has opened without a victory in its first three home games for the first time since 1989-90. They blew a 1-0 lead and lost for just the seventh time in 23 home contests (13-7-3) against the Panthers.
"Obviously, we're not off to a good start, 0-for-3 at home," New Jersey right wing Jamie Langenbrunner said. "We wanted to get off to a good start and we haven't. We're well aware that things like this can haunt you down the road. We've got to find a way out of it and get back on track right away."
Just 10 minutes after Langenbrunner finished off a 3-on-2 with John Madden to give the Devils the lead, Bouwmeester forged a 1-1 tie with 5:23 remaining when his shot from the right side found its way past Martin Brodeur.
"You can't play 82 one-goal games," center John Madden added. "You've got to score a couple of goals early in the first period and kind of put a scare into a team. If you let them hang around, especially in our building in a 0-0 game or a one-goal game, there's a chance they might win. You've got to be able to put some room between you and the other team."
On the next shift, Jokinen stunned Brodeur and the crowd of 10,016 when he one-timed a rebound under the goaltender's glove.
"We just had to keep driving to the net and have the puck go in there with the action and good things will happen," Panthers coach Mike Keenan said. "It doesn't matter who is in net. The best goaltenders in the world, if they can't see the shots or they're tipped, screened or deflected, it makes it really tough on them."
Roberto Luongo made the lead stand, stopping 32 shots, including 15 in the first period.
New Jersey held an eight-shot advantage during the first but had nothing to show for it as Luongo frustrated them during two late power plays. He denied Jeff Friesen's stuff attempt, blocked defenseman Scott Stevens' sharp-angle shot through a screen and kicked out Langenbrunner's point-blank attempt from the slot.
"I don't think we're struggling to score," Devils coach Pat Burns said. "We had some great opportunities. A couple of inches across and they're in the net and we'd have a better lead."
After the teams managed six shots apiece in the second period, Langenbrunner broke the scoreless deadlock with his second goal of the season.
Moments after Florida's Ivan Novoseltsev thwarted Madden's cross-ice pass to Langenbrunner, Jay Pandolfo created a turnover just inside the New Jersey blue line. Madden took a feed from Pandolfo and carried into the Florida zone before spotting Langenbrunner, who was able to get past defenseman Branislav Mezei and beat Luongo for a 1-0 lead.
But Bouwmeester fired a sharp-angle shot from the right corner that eluded Brodeur, who was seeking his 65th career shutout, and knotted the game. On the next shift, Niklas Hagman's long shot glanced off Brodeur's mask and Jokinen jumped on the rebound for his second goal of the season and fifth in 19 career games against the Devils.
"The puck really hasn't bounced our way in the first six games," Jokinen said. "Finally, we got a couple of lucky breaks and got a win. We really needed this one."
Luongo survived a late flurry after the Devils pulled Brodeur and the Panthers held on to snap a five-game winless streak (0-3-2).
