Goalie Eddie Lack made a career high 48 saves as the New Jersey Devils beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 on Saturday night at Amalie Arena. The lost by the Lightning was their fourth in their last seven games & left them a point behind the Vegas Golden Knights for the league's best record.
The Devils grabbed a 1-0 three minutes into the game when Defenseman Ben Lovejoy seemed to be just putting the puck on net from the boards but somehow the puck found the back of the net. And the Devils lead could have been two goals just a minute later but Lightning Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy made a stong kick-out save on a shot from Devils Center Travis Zajac.
After nearly falling behind by two goals, the Lightning put the pressure on to tie the game up including an attempt by Right Wing Ryan Callahan to redirect a shot from in front of the net but Lack was able to see the puck & push it aside. But after killing off a hooking penalty on Center Steven Stamkos , the Lightning were able to tie the score up at one when Center Vladislav Namestinkov & Callahan did some dirty work & battled for the puck in the offensive zone. And Callahan was able to dig the puck out of the corner to set up Left Wing Chris Kunitz, who shot a one-timer past Lack for his 9th goal of the year.
Tampa Bay, who came into the game with the #2 power play unit in the NHL, got their first chance of the night when Devils Center Blake Coleman was called for high-sticking. And the Lightning went right to work dominating the puck play during the man advantage including point blank shots from Center Yanni Gourde & Callahan. But Lack was able to use every part of his stick & even lost his stick but was able to save every shot the Lightning put on goal during the power play.Before the end of the first period, New Jersey tried to untie the score but Vasilevskiy was able to keep two Devils shot from crossing the goal line. And the first period ended with the Lightning outshooting the Devils 16-9, with the Lightning getting 11 of those shots in the final 10 minutes of the period.
The Lightning started the second period similar to how they played the final 10 minutes of the first period by generating scoring chances early. Both Right Wing Nikita Kucherov & Gourde had good chances within the first 30 seconds of the period but were turned away by Lack. But before the first minute was gone in the period the Devils took a penalty & the Lightning took advantage when Center Brayden Point jammed home a shot from above the circle by Gourde that trickled through Lack's pads. But before the Lightning's public address announcer was done detailing Point's 21st goal of the season, the Devils tied the game back up at two when Center Nico Hischier got a shot past Vasilevskiy. The game-tying goal came 23 seconds after the Lightning took their one goal lead.
The second period took a turn with just under five minutes gone in the period when Devils Left Wing Miles Wood hit Namestnikov from behind into the boards. That hit prompted Lightning Defenseman Andrej Sustr to go after Wood. But Wood ended up throwing several punches drawing blood from Sustr's face & causing Sustr to head to the locker room.
Tampa Bay would go on the power play after the hit on Namestnikov with Wood drawing minor penalties for both boarding & roughing, while Sustr received a roughing penalty. And before the Devils killed off those penalties, they took the 3-2 lead when Center Pavel Zacha beat Vasilevskiy with a low shot to his blocker side.
The Lightning went back on the back on the power play two minutes after giving up the shorthanded goal by Zacha but were unable to take advantage of the man advantage. And before the end of the second period, the Lightning were forced to kill off two penalties. But even with that, Tampa Bay still went into the third period with 33 shots on goal.
The two teams traded goals in the third period first with Wood scoring for the Devils in less than 90 seconds into the third period. Then the Lightning made it a one goal game again when Stamkos scored their second power play goal of the game with five minutes gone in the final period. But even with the Lightning getting a total of 18 shots on net in the period & having multiple quality chances to tie the game up including another man advantage, they were turned away by Lack.
Tampa Bay will try to get back on the winning track when they begin a three game road trip in Washington vs the Capitals on Tuesday night. Coverage begins on 970 WFLA with the pre-game show at 6:30 pm.
SCORING SUMMARY:
1ST PERIOD:
1. NJD - Lovejoy (Unassisted) - 2:59
2. TBL - Kunitz (Callahan) - 12:41
2ND PERIOD:
1. TBL - PPG - Point (Gourde, Sergachev) - 2:47
2. NJD - Hischier (Hall, Vatanen) - 3:13
3. NJD - SHG - Zacha (Vatanen, Lovejoy) - 6:27
3RD PERIOD:
1. NJD - Wood (Noesen) - 1:24
2. TBL - PPG - Stamkos (Hedman, Kucherov) - 5:15
PENALTY SUMMARY:
1ST PERIOD:
1. TBL - Stamkos - (Hooking) - 8:46
2. NJD - Coleman - (High-Sticking) - 14:39
2ND PERIOD:
1. NJD - Vatanen - (Holding) - 00:54
2. NJD - Wood - (Boarding) - 4:54
3. NJD - Wood - (Roughing) - 4:54
4. TBL - Sustr - (Roughing) - 4:54
5. NJD - Noesen - (High-Sticking) - 8:33
6. TBL - Hedman - (Tripping) - 14:00
7. TBL - Gourde - (Hooking) - 16:26
3RD PERIOD:
1. NJD - Palmieri - (Tripping) - 5:03
2. NJD - Hall - (Tripping) - 11:56