April 18 - NEW JERSEY DEVILS 1 VS TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING 3, Game 4
The Devils fell to the Lightning in the fourth game of a best-of-seven series, 3-1. New Jersey now trails in the series 3-1 and is 123-109 in the team's playoff history.
4/21 Round 1 • Game 5 Notes: Devils at Lightning
New Jersey Devils at Tampa Bay Lightning 3:00 PM ET • Amalie Arena • NBC • The One Jersey Network • NBCSN• SN360 • TVAS2
The Devils opened the scoring for the first time in the series with a power play goal coming from Kyle Palmieri, 8:23 into the first frame. It was the first playoff power play goal of Palmieri's career.
Will Butcher tallied the primary assist on Palmieri's goal, and leads all rookies in power play points this postseason (1G-2A-3PTS).
Taylor Hall recorded his fourth assist of the postseason and leads the Devils with 6PTS (2G-4A).
The Devils lead all other playoff clubs in goals scored by a rookie with four (B. Coleman - 2, W. Butcher - 1, N. Hischier - 1) (T-2 SJ & BOS with three goals). *As of Apr. 20.
Cory Schneider stopped 34 of 36 shots (.944%) and fell to 2-5 in his playoff career. Schneider is 1-1 with a 1.67 GAA and a .951 SV% in 3 GP this series.
Damon Severson led the Devils and tied his regular season career high (10/16/14 at WSH) with eight shots.
April 16 - NEW JERSEY DEVILS 5 VS TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING 2, Game 3
Cory Schneider started his first game in the playoffs and stopped 34 of 36 shots that he faced. Schneider improved to 2-4 in his playoff career with a 2.41 GAA and a .928 SV%. Schneider has stopped 44 of 46 shots (.957 SV%) in two games played this series.
Taylor Hall recorded three-points (1G-2A) and his second multi-point game this postseason. Hall now has five points (2G-3A) in three career playoff games. Hall opened the scoring for the Devils at 12:42 of the second period and had assists on Will Butcher's power play goal and Stefan Noesen's GWG.
Butcher scored his first career playoff goal on a five-on-three power play to tie the game, 4:03 into the third period. Butcher's goal marks the first time a Devils rookie defenseman has scored a playoff goal since Adam Larsson, in Game 2 of the 2012 Conference Semifinals at Philadelphia (Credit NHLPR).
Noesen netted the game winner 12:55 into the third period, notching his first career playoff goal/point before Blake Coleman (SH-EN) and Ben Lovejoy added empty-net goals to close out the game. Lovejoy's tally marked his first playoff goal as a Devil and the fifth of his career.
Kyle Palmieri and Andy Greene added assists on the goals from Butcher and Noesen.
Marcus Johansson played in his first game since Jan. 23 at Boston (35 regular season & 2 playoff games missed), after sustaining a concussion. Johansson has played in 70 playoff games, posting 9G-21A-30PTS (7PPG) in his career.
Travis Zajac led the Devils with 24:24 TOI.
April 14 - NEW JERSEY DEVILS 3 AT TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING 5, Game 2
Ten players have made their playoff debut for the Devils this postseason and New Jersey is now 122-108 in the team's playoff history.
Nico Hischier opened the scoring for the Devils 13:38 into the second period. Hischier's goal made him the youngest player (19 years 100 days) in franchise history to score in a Stanley Cup Playoff game (Credit NHLPR).
Sami Vatanen scored New Jersey's second goal 19:34 into the second period and his sixth career playoff goal. Andy Greene and Cory Schneider picked up the assists on Vatanen's tally.
Blake Coleman scored the Devils final goal of the game in the third period. It was Coleman's first career playoff goal/point. Travis Zajac and John Moore were credited with the assists.
Keith Kinkaid started in net, but was pulled at 13:12 of the second period. During his time in net, Kinkaid stopped 10 out of 15 shots. Cory Schneider relived Kinkaid, for his first playoff action since the 2013 playoffs, when he played for the Vancouver Canucks. Schneider stopped all 10 shots that he faced.
April 12 - NEW JERSEY DEVILS 2 AT TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING 5, Game 1
Taylor Hall recorded 2PTS (1G-1A) in his first career playoff game. Hall opened the scoring for the Devils with his first career playoff goal/point at 13:55 of the second period. Hall also assisted on Travis Zajac's power play goal.
Zajac scored the Devils second goal of the game on the power play, and his first playoff goal since Game 5 of the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals. Zajac ranks 20th in Devils playoff history with 27 PTS (11G-16A) in 53 games.
Will Butcher tallied his first NHL playoff point with the secondary assist on Zajac's power play goal.
Keith Kinkaid lost his first career playoff start/game and his first game this season against the Lightning and stopped 27 out of 32 shots (.844%).
Sami Vatanen led the Devils with 26:32 TOI, which was his fourth highest total in 41 career playoff games.
Regular Season Series - New Jersey (3-0-0) vs Tampa Bay (0-2-1)
New Jersey swept Tampa Bay 3-0-0, in the 2017-18 regular season-series. The last time the Devils swept the Lightning in a regular season-series was during the 2008-09 season (4-0-0). The two clubs met three times this year, October 17 at Prudential Center (5-4 Ws), February 17 at Amalie Arena (4-3 W), and March 24 at Prudential Center (2-1 W).
Devils rookie Nico Hischier finished the regular season-series with a team leading four points (2G-2A), while Taylor Hall led the team with three assists.
Kyle Palmieri, Drew Stafford, and Hischier were tied for the most goals (2) against Tampa in the regular season.
Palmieri notched the deciding goal on October 17, and the game winner on March 24. Miles Wood tallied the game winner on February 17, and finished the series with seven shots.
Cory Schneider won the first matchup between the two teams, and posted a 1-0 record this season with a .892 SV%, and 3.69 GAA.
Eddie Lack made a career-high 48 saves on February 17 for his first win as a Devil (also career-high 51 shots against) for a .941 SV% and 3.00 GAA
Keith Kinkaid stopped 35 of 36 shots in the victory on March 24, and improved to 2-1-1 with a .915 SV% and 2.43 GAA in his career against the Lightning.
