The Lightning did enjoy a strong first period. They held the Devils to just four shots on net and 10 total shot attempts. They owned most of the possession in the frame and converted twice. Following a New Jersey turnover, Jan Rutta wristed a shot from the top of the right circle past MacKenzie Blackwood. After Yegor Sharangovich knotted the score by snapping a quick shot from the slot past Andrei Vasilevskiy, the Lightning regained the lead with a Pat Maroon power play goal off a rebound.
When Boris Katchouk delivered a terrific cross ice pass to Victor Hedman and Hedman buried a left circle shot past Blackwood at 6:17 of the second, the Lightning had a 3-1 lead. They created additional chances to score in the period, but Blackwood denied the 11 other Lightning shots. Including a Mathieu Joseph shorthanded breakaway. But the middle stanza was also the period in which the Devils found their rhythm. They posted 15 shots and applied more consistent pressure. Michael McLeod rang a shot off the post on an odd-man rush and the Devils had other close calls before the period ended.
So even though the Lightning didn't finish the period particularly well, they still had a 3-1 lead entering the third. And they certainly could have added to their goal total in the final stanza. But Blackwood came up with several incredible saves to keep them off the board. In the third period alone, he denied an in-alone chance for Maroon, stopped a two-on-zero breakaway shot from Alex Killorn, kept out a Brayden Point breakaway (then got a break when Point put his penalty shot off the crossbar), made a terrific shoulder stop on Taylor Raddysh, and saved a backdoor one-timer from Corey Perry during a late Lightning power play.
Blackwood's performance throughout the game - and especially in the third period - was a key to how the final 20 minutes unfolded. But the Lightning aided the New Jersey comeback by not having the same commitment to team defense that they had displayed in the prior nine games. Dawson Mercer and Jimmy Vesey showed great finish on their early third period goals, but both players were open because of Lightning rush coverage miscues. On the eventual winning goal, the Lightning had players back defensively, but they surrendered the defensive blue line to Jesper Bratt, who managed to find space at the left circle and fire a shot on net. Vasilevskiy stopped Bratt's attempt, but Bratt fed the rebound to Sharangovich, who, similar to his first goal, released a quick shot that eluded Vasilevskiy.
The Lightning don't have time to dwell on this one. They host Minnesota on Sunday at 5:00 PM. They'll look to get back to the stout defensive play that they've shown over the past several weeks.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Phil Esposito):
1. MacKenzie Blackwood - Devils. 31 saves.
2. Yegor Sharangovich - Devils. Two goals and assist.
3. Jan Rutta - Lightning. Goal and assist.
