Devils Rally in the Third to Stun Lightning 5-3 | GAME STORY

TAMPA, FL - Trailing 3-1 heading into the third period, the New Jersey Devils came out on fire, scoring three times in the period's opening 10 minutes to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3 at Amalie Arena on Saturday.
Yegor Sharangovich scored twice while Mackenzie Blackwood made 31 saves, including one on a crucial penalty shot in the third with the game tied. Dawson Mercer, Jimmy Vesey and Tomas Tater with an empty-netter scored the other Devils markers.

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"It's something we talked about," said Devils head coach Lindy Ruff. "We're going to be down in games. We have to find a way to get back in them and find a way to get points. Last year we had opportunities to do that but couldn't quite close the deal. I knew going into tonight, if we got the opportunities we needed to score."
Down 3-1 going into the third, the comeback started when Dawson Mercer scored a beautiful goal 1:12 into the final frame, rushing down the ice and tucking the puck around the outstretched left pad of Lightning netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy to draw the Devils within one at 3-2.
Four minutes into the third, Blackwood had a save-of-the-year candidate. On a two-on-none, he robbed Alex Killorn on a one-timer.
Jimmy Vesey then tied the game past the five-minute mark of the final frame. Vesey took a great stretch pass from P.K. Subban and skated it all alone on a breakaway before roofing the puck on Vasilevskiy.
"We didn't like where we were at after two periods and came out with a lot more fire," said Vesey. "Got the first one early. P.K. made a great pass to me and I was lucky enough to beat the goalie. It was a great feeling."
Devils took the lead near the period's midway point. Jesper Bratt fired a shot on goal on the rush. It was stopped but he recovered it and passed it over to Yegor Sharangovich who ripped it from the left circle five-hole to put the Devils up 4-3 with his second of the game.
"Real important," Ruff said of the two-goal performance from Sharangovich. "It's important for him, important for our team. He's a guy that we're really counting on to help with us with the offensive side of it. The offensive part of his game has come along the last few games and he got rewarded for it tonight."
Brayden Point was hauled down on a breakaway by Ryan Graves, setting up a penalty shot. Prior to the penalty shot, there was a video review to see if the puck crossed the line on the play but it was determined to have not.
On the ensuing penalty shot, Point wired it off the crossbar.
Vesey took a penalty late, giving the Bolts power play a chance to tie it. On their best chance, Blackwood slid across to make a great pad stop on Perry, preserving the Devils lead.
Ruff praised Blackwood's heroic performance.
"The save on the penalty shot, key save late on the power play, the two-on-oh highlight reel save. We made some big mistakes and he allowed us to win a hockey game," Ruff exclaimed.
Blackwood added that he wanted to rebound from his performance against the Panthers.
"It was huge. It wasn't my best game last game, I'll be the first to tell you that," Blackwood stated. "I owed the team and myself a better performance tonight and thankfully we were able to pull it together in the third period."
Tomas Tatar added an empty-net goal with 1:16 to play to ice the outcome with a 5-3 win.
The first penalty of the game went to the Devils just over two minutes in. Subban was called for interference to put Tampa Bay's potent power play on the attack.
The Devils were able to kill off the penalty but several minutes after the kill, Jan Rutta wired a wrist shot from the right circle past Mackenzie Blackwood to open the scoring.
Pavel Zacha was called for interference midway through the first to give the Lightning another man advantage but this one was short-lived. Twenty-three seconds into the penalty, Alex Killorn was called for holding the stick to negate that power play.
Yegor Sharangovich picked up a pass at the bottom of the left circle and fired a shot over the blocker of Andrei Vasilevskiy to tie the game at 1-1 with six minutes to go in the first.
With 2:29 to go in the first, Damon Severson took a hooking penalty to give Tampa Bay its third power play of the period and this time they converted. Pat Maroon picked up a rebound at the top of the crease and backhanded it by Blackwood to put the Bolts back in the lead.
After one, shots on goal were 9-4 for Tampa Bay.
Through the first four minutes of the second, the Devils hadn't allowed a shot until Anthony Cirelli blasted a one-timer that Blackwood snagged out of the air.
6:17 into the middle frame, Victor Hedman fired a wrist shot from the left circle high over the shoulder of Blackwood to double the Bolts' lead, 3-1.
Past the period's midway point, Mathieu Joseph broke in behind the Devils defense and all alone. Blackwood made a nice pad save on the breakaway and with three minutes to go in the second, Michael McLeod fired a shot off the post on a two-on-one behind Vasilevskiy as the teams traded chances.
Shots on goal in the second period were 15-13 for the Devils but Tampa Bay had a 22-19 lead in shots in the game after 40 minutes.