The New Jersey Devils fell 6-3 to the Tampa Bay Lightning in their final game before the all-star break. They mounted a strong performance in the first and third periods, but a poor showing in the middle frame cost them an important two points in the standings. With the loss, the Devils dropped to 24-20-3, while Tampa Bay improved to 27-18-5.
Game Recap
Period One
The Devils had a responsible effort in the first. Despite being outshot 9-6, they generated high-danger chances and held pressure from the Lightning to the outside. They also put together a masterful penalty kill in the final minutes of play against the league’s best power-play unit. It was a scoreless opening period.
Period Two
Tampa Bay opened the scoring early in the second frame. At 1:09, Nicholas Paul redirected a point shot from Victor Hedman to put the Lightning up by one. Darren Raddysh also recorded an assist.
At 10:40, Brandon Hagel doubled the lead for Tampa Bay when he found his own rebound and snuck it past Vitek Vanecek. Hedman and Paul added assists. The Devils couldn’t gain any sustained pressure and were outshot 19-4 in the period.
Period Three
The Devils responded with a few strong shifts to begin the third. At 2:49, Ondrej Palat scored against his former team to pull the Devils within one. Nico Hischier and Santeri Hatakka collected the assists. That was Hatakka’s first point as a Devil.
However, exactly a minute later, the Devils surrendered a goal to Steven Stamkos. Nick Perbix and Nikita Kucherov tallied assists. After killing a third penalty, the Devils rallied again when Jesper Bratt scored off a rush chance. The goal was unassisted.
At 13:52, the Lightning regained a two-goal lead off a Devils turnover. Vanecek came out of the net to play the puck to Kevin Bahl, who couldn’t connect a pass through the middle. It was intercepted by Brayden Point, who scored before Vanecek could reset. The goal was unassisted.
The Devils rebounded at 17:22 when Tyler Toffoli continued his hot streak with his 21st goal of the season and 500th career point. Palat and Simon Nemec collected the assists.
With the goaltender pulled, Hagel scored his second of the night to ice the game. Anthony Cirelli and Kucherov had the assists. The Devils pulled Vanecek a second time, and Point capitalized with his 25th goal of the season, assisted by Hedman and Stamkos.
The Devils were outshot 42-24 in the contest.
Takeaways
The Devils played smart hockey in the first period. They were committed to the forecheck and held opposing chances to the outside. However, the second period continued to be a struggle for New Jersey. Weak play in front of their own net cost them against Tampa Bay. They failed to clear rebounds and allowed Lighting players far too much time and space in their zone. They also couldn’t generate any offensive chances, with only four total shots in the period. They fell behind by two goals in the second and were never able to draw even.
On the bright side for the Devils, Vanecek had one of his strongest performances of the season in net. In the second period alone, he was faced with 19 shots and extended zone time for the Lightning. He only posted a .900 SV% but came up with numerous saves on high-danger chances to give the Devils every opportunity to get themselves back in the game.
Up Next
With the All-Star Game approaching, the Devils get a much-needed ten-day break to reset and hopefully get healthier.
They return to play on February 6th at home against the Colorado Avalanche. The Avalanche sit atop the Central Division with a 32-14-3 record.
This is the second meeting of the year between the Devils and Avalanche. New Jersey dropped the first contest 6-3 on November 7th.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on ESPN+ and Hulu.
