On Tuesday against Los Angeles, the Lightning rallied from a two-goal deficit and won in overtime. In this game versus New Jersey, the Lightning squandered a two-goal lead — but once again prevailed in overtime.
So while the contests unfolded differently, the final outcome was the same. That’s an apt description of how the Lightning played in each of the two games. They delivered a much tighter defensive performance versus the Kings than they did against the Devils. But in the end, they’ve banked a total of four points — and that’s the most important takeaway from the first two games of the second half.
The Devils are a dynamic offensive team, although they are currently missing injured leading scorer Jack Hughes (as well as some other regulars due to injury, including Ondrej Palat). Still, they created numerous rush chances throughout the night. One of those yielded the game’s opening goal for Dawson Mercer. He broke down the left wing and cut to the front of the net. Andrei Vasilevskiy made the initial save, but the puck stayed with Mercer as he glided towards the corner boards. From below the goal line, he banked a second shot off Vasilevskiy’s back and into the net at 7:42.
The Lightning generated several dangerous looks of their own in the first period, but many of those opportunities didn’t lead to shots on goal. As one example, Nikita Kucherov missed the net on a breakaway. But two of their six first-period shots did go in the net. Following a Luke Glendening offensive-zone faceoff win, Nick Perbix took a shot from the point. Glendening established net-front position and, on his backhand, tipped the puck past Vitek Vanecek at 12:35. Then, during what was their only penalty kill of the night, Glendening netted the Lightning’s first shorthanded goal of the season. Luke Hughes fumbled the puck in his own end, and Glendening intercepted it. He wired a shot from the slot that got past Vanecek at 18:22.
The Lightning dictated play for much of the second period and added to their lead when Brayden Point converted from the slot during a delayed penalty call on New Jersey. Point’s goal came at 10:34. But late in the frame, the Devils made a push. Vasilevskiy stopped Jesper Bratt on a breakaway to preserve the two-goal lead. But after an unforced icing on the Lightning, the Devils won the ensuing offensive-zone faceoff, maintained possession, and received a lucky bounce. Bratt deflected John Marino’s point shot wide of the net. It bounced off the end wall, caromed in front, hit Vasilevskiy, and fluttered into the net. Soon after, Point had a breakaway chance, but like Kucherov, he missed the net. The period ended with the Lightning up by a goal.
Early in the third, the Devils tied the score. Following a Lightning turnover in the neutral zone, Nathan Bastian converted on a breakaway at 3:53. The Devils controlled play for much of the rest of the period. Erik Haula hit the crossbar. The Devils put a puck in the net before the goal was disallowed due to a Lightning offside challenge. Bratt had another breakaway, which Vasilevskiy stopped. The Lightning didn’t record a shot on net until the 14:51 mark (though they hit the post earlier in the period). A late power-play chance for the Lightning didn’t yield the go-ahead goal, so regulation ended with the score tied at three.
In overtime, Vasilevskiy made two saves, and after each, the officials didn’t blow the whistle to stop play. Instead, Vasilevskiy was allowed to pass the puck to a teammate. In the second instance, he gave it to Kucherov, who skated it up the ice and into the offensive zone. Soon after, he set up Darren Raddysh at the left circle. Raddysh shot the puck past Vanecek’s glove at 1:52 to win the game for Tampa Bay.
The Lightning allowed 30 shots in the game. A number of those were high-danger chances. Vasilevskiy may have allowed three goals, but he was the short end of two unlucky bounces and a breakaway goal against. Still, he stopped two other breakaways as well as several additional quality looks for New Jersey.
Gage Goncalves made his NHL debut and delivered a strong performance. He was fearless in making plays, had some looks around the New Jersey net, and stood up for Erik Cernak in the first period after Bastian hit Cernak in the head. Unfortunately, Cernak was unable to play afterwards.
The Lightning will look to extend their winning streak to three games when they host Anaheim (and welcome back Alex Killorn) on Saturday.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Phil Esposito):
- Darren Raddysh — Lightning. GWG in OT.
- Andrei Vasilevskiy — Lightning. 27 saves.
- Luke Glendening — Lightning Two goals.
