Devils defeat Lightning, close gap in wild card

NEWARK, N.J. -- Keith Kinkaid made 35 saves to help the New Jersey Devils move within two points of the first Eastern Conference wild card with a 2-1 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Prudential Center on Saturday.
Kinkaid made 40 saves in a 4-3 overtime win at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday.

"Getting back-to-back]*
Nico Hischier and Kyle Palmieri scored for the Devils (39-28-8), who are two points behind the Philadelphia Flyers for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the East. The Devils have defeated the Lightning and Penguins three times each this season.
Ondrej Palat scored and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 29 saves for the Lightning (51-20-4), who are first in the Atlantic Division, four points ahead of the Boston Bruins, who have two games in hand.
"They are desperate and those are dangerous teams," Tampa Bay forward Chris Kunitz said. "We have to match that urgency. We have to be a better team and go out and be better than them on every single shift, and I feel they did a better job of doing that."
Kinkaid made 11 saves in the third period to prevent the Lightning from taking the NHL points lead. Tampa Bay and the Nashville Predators each have 106 points.
"Keith has been a difference-maker," Devils coach John Hynes said. "He has really come in and played well, has made key saves at key times. He obviously won quite a few games and been a real important factor for us in remaining competitive in the playoff race.
"We would like to see him continue that at that level as well."

Palat scored a power-play goal off a rebound from the slot at 4:22 of the third period to pull the Lightning within 2-1.
The Devils took a 2-0 lead at 10:59 of the second period when Palmieri scored his 21st of the season. He skated from the left-wing half boards to between the circles and took a snap shot that beat Vasilevskiy inside the left post.
"It's the second period, you want to try and do your best to get them tired and have some good chances, and [Hischier's] line did a good job of that by getting the puck in and Taylor Hall did a good job of holding onto it," Palmieri said. "[Pavel Zacha] gave me a little drop pass and we had some tired [Tampa Bay] defenders so I just tried to get a shot on net there."
Hischier gave the Devils a 1-0 lead when he knocked in a backhand from the slot at 17:51 of the first period. Will Butcher took the initial shot from the left circle and Hischier was there for the rebound while dropping to his knees.
"[Hischier] has been a driving force for us," Palmieri said. "Playing alongside Hall, Nico stepped up and has played some great hockey. We rely on him every night, and as a 19-year-old it's tough to do that throughout a whole season, but it's a big time in the season and he's playing some big-time hockey."

Goal of the game

Palmieri's goal at 10:59 of the second period.

Save of the game

Kinkaid's save on J.T. Miller at 6:20 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Hischier's goal at 17:51 of the first period.

They said it

"That's a good team, the structure and defensively. They didn't turn over many pucks so we didn't have many odd-man looks. They worked really hard and play a tough style to get offensive against. They make the checks and make you go the full length of the ice." -- Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh
"We're getting contributions throughout the lineup. These last few games, [Kinkaid] has made some huge saves in key moments and we're going to need that. You need everybody pulling the rope, and he's front and center right now." -- Devils forward Brian Boyle

Need to know

Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev, who had an assist, leads NHL rookie defensemen with 38 points (nine goals, 29 assists). ... Butcher tied Eric Weinrich (1990-91) and Slava Fetisov (1989-90) for most assists by a Devils rookie defenseman (34). … Hall has two goals and four assists during a four-game point streak. ... Hischier has two goals and one assist in the past two games. ... Kinkaid is 11-3-0 with a 2.26 goals-against average and one shutout in his past 15 games (14 starts).

What's next

Lightning:Host the Arizona Coyotes on Monday (7:30 p.m. ET; SUN, FS-A PLUS, NHL.TV)
Devils: Host the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; MSG, FS-CR, NHL.TV)