As they did on Saturday against the Islanders, the Lightning earned a crucial regulation win against a team chasing them in the standings.
Similar to Saturday’s contest, the Lightning scored first and never relinquished the lead. Unlike the game against the Islanders, however, there was no late third-period drama. Instead, the Lightning closed things out decisively.
Tampa Bay and New Jersey had each played on Saturday afternoon, so this Sunday matinee was a back-to-back for both teams. The first period was a sluggish one — neither side generated many high-danger chances. The Lightning’s biggest problem in the opening period came when they failed to execute breakouts cleanly. As a result, the Devils put together some lengthy offensive-zone shifts. But the Lightning defended well without the puck and protected the front of their net.
Play opened up in the second period, and the Lightning cashed in for two goals in the opening 4:15. Following a New Jersey icing infraction, the Lightning won the ensuing faceoff and applied immediate pressure. Brayden Point took two shots from the slot — Akira Schmid stopped them both — and Victor Hedman narrowly missed an open net. Then Nikita Kucherov maneuvered the puck from the slot towards the front of the net. It deflected to Hedman at the side of the goal, and he buried the shot at 1:27. On the second Lightning goal, Hedman moved the puck up to Kucherov at the offensive blue line. Kucherov got it to Point, who skated past Colin Miller. Point deked wide to his forehand and, from the goal line extended, banked the puck off Schmid’s skate and in. The goal was Point’s 30th of the season, and Kucherov, who assisted on both of the first two goals, earned his 100th point.
The Devils cut the deficit to one during a second-period power play. Jack Hughes’ centering feed from behind the Lightning net deflected to Tyler Toffoli, who finished a point-blank shot at 6:01.
Both clubs generated other dangerous chances before the second period ended, although the Lightning had more of them. Jonas Johansson made nine saves in the frame, including a backdoor stop on Toffoli, who attempted to bank the puck into the net (just as Point did successfully earlier in the frame.
Taking a one-goal lead into the third period, the Lightning wanted to a) avoid any additional penalties (something that led to problems late in the game on Saturday against the Islanders), and b) lock things down defensively.
They were unable to stay out of the box, though, taking back-to-back penalties in the opening 5:25. But they killed off both penalties beautifully, holding the Devils to zero shots on goal over those four minutes.
Then, just over two minutes after the second penalty expired, the Lightning added to their lead. Kucherov set up Point in the slot, but instead of shooting, Point took the puck wide to the right circle. He threw it to the front of the net, where it caromed to Brandon Hagel, who swept it in at 9:38.
From that point onward, the Lightning dominated play. They owned nearly all of the possession time, preventing the Devils from mounting a comeback. Repeatedly and relentlessly, the Lightning worked the puck around the offensive zone and forced the Devils to defend. After Hagel’s goal, New Jersey managed to produce only two shots on net and only eight shot attempts. Three of those attempts occurred in the final minute. At that point, Kucherov had already sealed the win with an empty-netter.
It was an enormously successful and productive weekend for the Lightning, who collected four points and put some distance between themselves and two of the teams directly behind them in the standings. They’ll look to complete a perfect road trip when they play Philadelphia on Tuesday.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Brian Engblom):
- Nikita Kucherov — Lightning. Goal and three assists.
- Jonas Johansson — Lightning. 18 saves.
- Lightning Penalty Kill — Two successful kills in the third period.
