No amount of shock therapy could reset the New Jersey Devils and get them in sync against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Devils visited the Lightning for the second time this season, after defeating them 5-3 on the road for their first win of the year back in October.
Tuesday started with a positive note after it looked like New Jersey was receiving a trio of reinforcements in Dougie Hamilton, Connor Brown, and Evgenii Dadononv.
Pre-game warmups confirmed the trio of returns, and suddenly an injury-laden Devils squad added a significant amount of depth.
Yet, against the Lightning in their barn, the Devils’ chemistry was off, Jacob Markstrom failed to come up with a big save, and the power play was dreadful.
Let’s get into the Devils’ 5-1 loss on Tuesday.
First Period
The Devils and Lightning traded early even strength chances, with neither side able to establish early control in the tilt. However, a holding minor by Brayden Point on Brenden Dillon sent the Devils to the first power play of the game.
The Lightning limited the Devils to just one shot, however, and killed the infraction.
The Devils kept the pressure up when even strength resume. However, an errant pass by Dawson Mercer at Tampa Bay’s blueline missed its target, which sprung Jake Guentzel for a breakaway, and he scored to make it a 1-0 game.
The Devils received a second power play when Darren Raddysh tripped Jesper Bratt, giving New Jersey an opportunity to even the score. However, the Devils’ two shots on goal were turned aside by Andre Vasilevskiy, and the game returned to even strength.
With the clock dwindling down and just 21.4 seconds to go, the Lightning doubled their lead after the Devils lost a puck battle below the goal line. No one picked up Nikita Kucherov trailing the play, and he received the puck in the slot to beat Markstrom clean to send the Devils into the first intermission down 2-0
Despite the score, the Devils outshot the Lightning 14-7 in the opening 20 minutes, however, Tampa Bay owned a 9-6 scoring chance differential at even strength.
Second Period
Down two goals in the second period, the Devils began going well in the second period, holding puck possession in their favor.
Yet, a roughing call against Stefan Noesen cut the Devils’ momentum, and sent them to the penalty kill. After the Devils killed the infraction, even strength returned and the ice was evened.
At the 09:18 mark of the second, Luke Hughes went to the penalty box for hooking, and back to the power play went Tampa Bay.
A shot pass by Darren Raddysh to Guentzel saw the Lightning forward score his second goal of the night on a back-door tap-in, tripling their lead to 3-0.
The Devils didn’t back down, however, and eventually, they got on the board.
New Jersey’s second line went to work in the offensive zone. Bratt, Nico Hischier, and Arseny Gritsyuk worked the puck between the wall and the slot, creating high-danger scoring chances. Gritsyuk’s shot on goal trickled to the side of Vasilevskiy, which was then redirected by Hischier, and J.J. Moser pushed it over his own goal line in an attempt to clear the puck from danger.
The officials reviewed the goal, however, it stood, and the Devils went into the second intermission down 3-1.
Third Period
The Devils couldn’t capitalize on their momentum in the third period. 04:49 into the first period, Darren Raddysh regained the Lightning’s three-goal lead, receiving a pass as the trailer on a Tampa Bay rush, and firing a shot past Markstrom.
Gritsyuk then took a minor holding penalty against Brandon Hagel, and the Devils went back to the penalty kill.
Guentzel tapped in a backdoor pass by Kucherov to complete a hat-trick and give the Lightning a 5-1 lead.
The Lightning locked it down for the remainder of the third period, and the Devils suffered their fourth loss of the season in regulation.
Markstrom made 23 saves on 29 shots, and accrued a -1.78 saves above expected.
James is the New Jersey Devils beat reporter for New Jersey Hockey Now on Sportsnaut and the PHWAs New … More about James Nichols