Another night, another 6-3 win, and another milestone met. Victor Hedman recorded three assists in the victory — the first of those was his 700th NHL point. The Lightning earned their seventh consecutive home victory and improved to 8-1-0 in their last nine games. Now they head into their bye week and the All-Star Break.
The New Jersey Devils are a dangerous offensive team, even while missing the dynamic Jack Hughes. But in the first two periods, the Lightning effectively shut down the New Jersey attack.
The opening frame (which ended scoreless) was evenly played. The Lightning outshot the Devils, 9-6, and attempts were 13-13. The Lightning defended well without the puck, especially on rush coverage. The Devils are a quick team that can hurt the opposition with speed. But the Lightning managed to repeatedly break up New Jersey rush attempts. They did yield a two-on-one chance to Tyler Toffoli — Andrei Vasilevskiy made the save.
Early in the second period, Hedman earned his milestone point. His left-point slapshot was deflected into the net by Nick Paul at 1:09. That goal sparked the Lightning, who dominated the rest of the frame. In the middle stanza, the Lightning limited New Jersey’s chances by owning nearly all of the possession time. They outshot the Devils, 19-4, and held a whopping 31-7 advantage in shot attempts. Brandon Hagel added to the lead at 10:40 when he followed up his own initial shot and tucked in a rebound from the front of the net.
The Lightning might have netted more than two goals, but Vitek Vanacek was excellent in keeping his team within striking distance. Vasilevskiy was far less busy, but he too helped his club. One of New Jersey’s four shots in the period came on a Dawson Mercer breakaway late in the frame. Vasilevskiy stopped Mercer, preserving the 2-0 lead.
The Devils pressed in the third, and the Lightning weren’t able to keep them off the board. Devils coach Lindy Ruff moved Ondrej Palat onto a line with Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt, and that trio was on the ice for all three of New Jersey’s third-period goals. The first of those came after the Lightning failed to clear the defensive zone, and Palat scored on a rebound of a Hischier shot. Bratt netted the second goal, completing a rush chance. And after the Devils pulled Vanacek for a sixth attacker, Toffoli (the sixth attacker) scored on a rebound of a shot that Palat tipped.
But each time the Devils scored, the Lightning had a response. Palat’s goal came at 2:49. Exactly sixty seconds later, Steven Stamkos answered for the Lightning. After Bratt made it 3-2 at 7:19, Brayden Point intercepted a pass and scored from the slot at 13:52. Then, 59 seconds after Toffoli’s sixth-attacker goal, Hagel tallied an empty-netter. Point finished the scoring with a second empty-net goal, setting the final at 6-3. Each of the Ligthning’s last three games — all wins — have ended 6-3.
After the game, the Lightning players and Jon Cooper expressed disappointment that they allowed those three third-period goals. But their ability to respond after each of the goals was critical. And in the end, the Lightning outplayed the Devils. They got the win they deserved.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Braydon Coburn):
- Victor Hedman — Lightning. Three assists. Eclipsed 700 points.
- Brayden Point — Lightning. Two goals.
- Brandon Hagel — Lightning. Two goals.
