Devils like their chances

On the surface, it appears the New Jersey Devils notched a split of their two playoff games with the Florida Panthers by playing two periods.

A three-goal first period carried New Jersey to a 3-2 win in the opener Friday, and a two-goal third period Sunday made Game 2 close in a 4-2 loss in this first-round series.

The only problem is the Devils don’t agree with the assessment.

Heading into Game 3 tonight at the Prudential Center, the Devils like the way they are playing. They believe the only thing that separated them from a 2-0 lead in the best-ofseven series was they took a few too many penalties. The Devils like their chances, especially with three of the next four games at home.

“We would love to be up 2-nothing right now,” Devils captain Zach Parise said in a conference call Monday after coach Peter Deboer elected not to practise. “(But) I don’t want to sit here and say that was a golden opportunity because we are still in great shape. . . . We like the way we are playing.”