Forwards Anthony Cirelli and Dominic James returned from injury for this game, but the good news was tempered with new injuries to defensemen Max Crozier and Erik Cernak. The Lightning also didn’t have Jon Cooper behind the bench, who missed the game for personal reasons.
It didn’t adversely affect them, though. They received significant offensive contributions from their top players, the power play scored two goals, and Andrei Vasilevskiy delivered a terrific performance, holding the New Jersey offense to a single goal.
There were segments during the first two periods when the Devils generated high-danger scoring chances. Vasilevskiy made 26 saves over the first 40 minutes—several of those were on point-blank shots or tipped pucks. His best save came in the second period on a Nico Hischier one-timer from the slot.
So the Lightning endured some wobbly moments defensively in the opening 40 minutes. But thanks to Vasilevskiy, they weren’t burned by them. And at the other end of the ice, they did well to generate a handful of good looks themselves. They opened the scoring at 11:40 of the first when Jake Guentzel jumped on an errant New Jersey pass at the Lightning blue line and countered on a breakaway. He snapped a low shot past Jacob Markstrom. The Lightning added another goal in the final minute of the frame. Cirelli chipped the puck down the ice, leading to a skate race between Brenden Dillon and Brandon Hagel. Dillon reached the puck first, but Hagel delivered a thunderous body check, knocking the puck loose. Luke Hughes tried to provide support, but Cirelli took the puck off his stick and centered a backhander to Nikita Kucherov in front. Kucherov wristed a shot over Markstrom’s glove at 19:38.
The Lightning power play broke through in the second period. On their second chance of the frame, Brayden Point won the offensive-zone faceoff to begin the man advantage, and the Lightning never lost possession of the puck. They held it in the o-zone for 1:20 before Darren Raddysh delivered a shot-pass to Guentzel at the side of the net. Guentzel redirected it past Markstrom at 10:38.
The Lightning didn’t have a strong finish to the period, though. They struggled with their puck play in the defensive zone, and the Devils created looks off those turnovers. Eventually, they converted. Vasilevskiy stopped Arseny Gritsyuk from the slot, but the rebound bounced in off Hischier and J.J. Moser.
The Lightning weren’t going to endure a repeat of Sunday’s blown third-period lead against Vancouver. In the early minutes of the third, they began dictating play and got rewarded when Raddysh blasted a shot past Markstrom’s glove at 4:49. Guentzel completed his eighth career hat trick when he finished a Kucherov centering pass during another power play at 7:48.
The Lightning then closed out the rest of the game strongly—they held the Devils to just five third-period shots on goal.
They wrap up their three-game homestand on Thursday against Edmonton.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Phil Esposito):
- Jake Guentzel — Lightning. Hat trick.
- Andrei Vasilevskiy — Lightning. 31 saves.
- Darren Raddysh — Lightning. Goal and two assists.
