Clemmensen Stops 42 Against Former Team NJ (Mentors)
Apr. 12, 2010
Scott Clemmensen is an alum of the GCG Summer Prospects Week.
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) -Scott Clemmensen got the best of his former team - again.
Clemmensen stopped 42 shots against his former New Jersey teammates, and Radek Dvorak and Nathan Horton scored in the third period to help the Florida Panthers beat the Devils 3-2 on Thursday night.
Michael Frolik added a goal for the Panthers, who won for the second time in eight games.
Patrik Elias and David Clarkson scored for the Devils in their final road game of the regular season. Coming off the 600th win of his NHL career on Tuesday night in Atlanta, Martin Brodeur made 15 saves.
Clemmensen, who signed a three-year contract with the Panthers in July, faced the Devils for the second time this season. He stopped 26 shots in a 4-2 Florida win in New Jersey on Dec. 11.
"It's kind of like playing your older or younger brother," Clemmensen said. "You have a lot of respect for them. I think they've got great players. I've got the utmost respect for all of them. You always want to play well against them because you think they're such great players and you want them to think the same thing about you.
"It's always good but it doesn't mean you want to stick it to them or anything like that. You always want to put your best foot forward and I was fortunate to get two wins against them this year."
The Devils, who will be making their 13th consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup playoffs, could have clinched the Atlantic Division, but needed both a win over Florida and a Pittsburgh regulation loss to the New York Islanders to claim the title.
The Penguins, who beat the Islanders 7-3, and the Devils each have 99 points with two games left.
"New Jersey's got a great club, they've got an opportunity to make a good run at the Cup so I'm not too worried about them," Clemmensen said. "They'll be just fine. They've got all the tools, all the components regardless of what happens."
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