SUNRISE, Fla. – In a rematch of Tuesday night’s game against the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Devils beat the Florida Panthers 6-2. Jesper Bratt had a hat trick while Stefan Noesen scored two goals. Dawson Mercer also had a goal for the visiting team. Not only did the Devils beat a top-NHL team in consecutive games, New Jersey have won three straight and five of their last six.

10 minutes into the first period, Stefan Noesen got the Devils on the board. The rebound from Luke Hughes’ shot popped left and Noesen buried it. In addition to Hughes, Nico Hischier picked up an assist. Two minutes later, Florida responded with a goal of their own. Former Devil Jesper Boqvist showed his stick skills with several moves to get inside positioning and tie the game, 1-1.

The Devils got their first power play of the game with 37 seconds left in the first period. During the man-advantage, Nico Hischier was inches away from scoring as his shot bounced over the goal. New Jersey stuck with it and maintained their possession. With 1.4 seconds left in the opening frame, Jesper Bratt scored to give New Jersey the lead, this time 2-1. Bratt had patience to find a lane before shooting high. Dougie Hamilton and Jack Hughes picked up assists on the goal.

In the first five minutes of the second period, right off a faceoff win for the Panthers, Sam Reinhart’s shot from the dot beat Jake Allen far side to tie the game, 2-2. As they have done multiple times throughout the season, New Jersey responded to their opponents goal with multiple strong shifts.

Hischier drew a penalty to get the Devils back on the power play late in the first and it didn’t take long for the Devils to capitalize. New Jersey had traffic in front of Bobrovsky and Jack Hughes’ shot hit off of Dmitry Kulikov’s skate to sneak past the goal line. Dawson Mercer, who was pressuring hard net front, picked up an assist. The Devils third goal of the game came just over a minute after Reinhart’s tally.

Like the first period, the Devils were back on the power play late in the second period. 10 seconds into the man-advantage Stefan Noesen scored to give New Jersey a 4-2 lead. The goal was the result of strong passing as Jack Hughes passed to Hischier who quickly passed it to Noesen net front. The goal was Noesen’s second of the night and the Devils third power play goal.

In the first four minutes of the third period, the Devils increased their lead again. Jesper Bratt’s shot was initially stopped by Bobrovsky but popped behind Florida’s netminder and crossed the goal line. Tomas Tatar picked up a primary assist and Luke Hughes’ secondary assist was his second helper of the game.

Halfway through the third period, as tensions continued to rise, a fight broke out. Kurtis MacDermid and Jonah Gadjovich dropped the gloves and both were sent off for fighting majors. This is the second straight night that Gadjovich has fought a Devils player as he squared up against Brenden Dillon Tuesday night.

In the final six minutes of regulation the Devils went back on the penalty kill. Florida pulled Bobrovsky in to make it a 6-on-4 situation; however, Jesper Bratt’s empty net goal shorthanded increased New Jersey’s lead to 6-2. Bratt’s tally also secured him his second career-hat trick.

Here are some observations from the game:

•Special teams can make or break games. For New Jersey, tonight it helped them pick up their second straight win over Florida. The Devils three power play goals made them the first team this season to score multiple power-play goals in a single game against the Panthers. On the penalty kill, New Jersey killed off all five of their penalties. The Devils have killed off 25 of their last 26 penalties.

•Nico Hischier has drawn 11 penalties this season which has given his group plenty of chances to use their power play at the start of the year. The Devils Captain drew two in Thursday’s game including one while the Devils were on the penalty kill to make it 4-on-4 hockey.

•The Devils have discussed riding the waves of momentum and responding not only throughout games but throughout the season. When Sam Reinhart scored to open Florida’s scoring, the Devils scored 76 seconds later. After a 1-0 loss to the San Jose Sharks, the Devils have won three-straight.

The Devils three-game Florida road trip wraps up Saturday night as New Jersey takes on the Tampa Bay Lightning.