Lightning defeat Devils for 8th win in 9 games

Brandon Hagel and Brayden Point each scored two goals for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 6-3 win against the New Jersey Devils at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, on Saturday.

Nicholas Paul had a goal and an assist, Victor Hedman had three assists, and Nikita Kucherov had two assists for the Lightning (27-18-5), who have won three in a row and are 8-1-0 in their past nine games. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 21 saves.

“I think we’ve just kind of been coming together as a group, lifting each other up when things don’t go well,” Hagel said. “I think a little bit when things went wrong (earlier in the season), everyone would grip their stick a little tighter, and I think now it’s kind of, ‘OK, they got one, let’s just go out there and keep doing what gives us success instead of forcing things,’ and I think that’s what we’ve been really good at.”

Ondrej Palat had a goal and an assist, Nico Hischier had two assists, and Vitek Vanecek made 36 saves for the Devils (24-20-3), who have lost three of four.

“Disappointing, and I’m embarrassed a bit to be honest,” Hischier said. “We got outworked, outplayed in such a big game. The way we performed is embarrassing.”

Paul gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead at 1:09 of the second period with a redirection of Hedman’s slap shot from the left point. The assist was Hedman’s 700th NHL point.

“It’s special,” Hedman said. “To do that in one spot, same team, same organization, means a lot.”

Hagel made it 2-0 at 10:40, sweeping in his own rebound from the edge of the crease past Vanecek's right skate.

The Lightning outshot the Devils 19-4 in the second period.

“In the second period, [Vanecek] gave us some big saves when we needed them,” New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. “He gave us some in the third to keep us alive. We had to throw a lot of risk in our game in the third period. We knew we were going to give up some opportunities, and he made the saves that gave us the chance to go the other way.”

Palat cut it to 2-1 at 2:49 of the third period, putting the rebound of Hischier’s shot past the glove of Vasilevskiy from the low slot.

Steven Stamkos responded for the Lightning to make it 3-1 at 3:49. He scored on a rebound near the right post past Vanecek, who was sitting on the ice after making a glove save on Nick Perbix.

“When we get scored on, it just seems that the next line that goes out there kind of lifts the team up,” Hagel said. “Obviously, tonight ‘Stammer’ goes out there and scores right after, so that’s obviously a positive. That’s something that’s helping our team win.”

Jesper Bratt cut it to 3-2 at 7:19 with a wrist shot from the right circle off a rush that trickled under Vasilevskiy.

Point pushed it to 4-2 at 13:52 from the slot after he intercepted Kevin Bahl's pass.

With Vanecek pulled for the extra attacker, Tyler Toffoli got the Devils to within 4-3 at 17:22.

However, Hagel made it 5-3 with an empty-net goal at 18:21, and Point added another at 19:06 for the 6-3 final.

“Just all around not a good game for us,” Hischier said. “We need emotion on the bench. We were bad in the first and second period, and even in the third, we had a few good shifts, but I think we’ve got to play with a little bit (of) emotion and sometimes be [ticked] off. We (were) soft tonight in front of our net.”

NOTES: Toffoli’s goal was his 500th NHL point. … Hedman has 41 assists this season. It his eighth season with at least 40 assists, tying Martin St. Louis for the most in Lightning history. … Kucherov has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in a four-game point streak.