The Backcheck: Bolts attempt comeback but fall to Devils on Saturday

The pushback was there from the Tampa Bay Lightning at Benchmark International Arena, but an early disadvantage proved to be too high of a hurdle on Saturday night.

The New Jersey Devils scored three goals in just over a five-minute span during the first period of Saturday’s Eastern Conference NHL clash to leave with a 5-3 win over the Lightning.

The Lightning are now 0-2-0 and will seek their first win of the season against the Boston Bruins on Monday at 1 p.m.

“I think you watch the game, there were a lot of uncharacteristic plays that were left out there that guys that are normally used to making them weren’t making. So that's part of the reset too,” Cooper said of the ups and downs on Saturday. "And then ultimately, you have to just go back to basic winning hockey habits. We did it for a while, clearly not enough."

New Jersey opened the scoring 8:30 into the game on a rebound goal from forward Timo Meier, and Connor Brown doubled the visitors’ lead with a redirection on the rush at the 10:17 mark of the opening period.

Devils captain Nico Hischier made it 3-0 when his centering pass deflected into the Lightning net off a defenseman. New Jersey outshot the Lightning 14-2 through the first period.

“It didn’t feel like we started on time, down quick, and in this league when you're chasing the game, it’s hard to come back,” Lightning forwrard Yanni Gourde said postgame. We’ve got to set ourselves up for a little bit of a better start and we can stay in the game a little bit longer.”

Gourde was the first Lightning player on the scoresheet 7:31 into the second period, shelving a shot over New Jersey goalie Jacob Markstrom once Brayden Point had gained the zone with speed.

Gourde looked to make it a one-goal game later in the second period, but the apparent goal was waved off because the puck went in directly after being played with Gourde’s glove.

Lightning assistant captain Ryan McDonagh would end up with the 3-2 goal for Tampa Bay on a one-timer with 2:38 left in the second period. After a Devils player broke their stick in the defensive zone, Brandon Hagel skated to the left circle before dishing to the point to tee up the defensemen, whose windup beat Markstrom.

“It was a lot better,” Lightning captain Victor Hedman said of the second period. “Our forecheck was good, we had good gaps and pucks to the net, and we had traffic in front and made it hard for him to see the puck. We know what we can do, and obviously that PK goal sucked a little bit of momentum out of us, but at the end of the day, we know what we’ve got in here. We just gotta put it together for 60 (minutes).”

A shorthanded breakaway in the third period by Jesper Bratt made it 4-2 Devils, and Brown’s second goal of the game made it 5-2.

In the game’s final minutes, Lightning defenseman Darren Raddysh’s first goal of the year cut the score to 5-3, one that held as final.

Lightning defenseman Max Crozier led all Lightning players with two assists for his first career multi-point game in the NHL, while goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy made 22 saves.

Despite an 0-2-0 start to the season, Tampa Bay hasn’t begun to panic.

“Urgency won’t be a question with this group, but ultimately this just didn’t go from a good team to a bad team in two games,” Cooper said. “The one thing is the guys’ hearts are all in the right place…You lose two in a row in January it’s one thing. But when you lose game one, two in the beginning, it’s a little eye opening. So a lot of runway left here, we’ve just got some work to do.”

That work begins Monday in Boston.

“It's only two games, and we're gonna go on the road, we’re gonna come out hard. That's all we can control is the next game and the first shift of the next game, and we go from there,” Gourde said.

“One baby step at a time. We're gonna be fine.”

Benjamin’s Three Stars:

• Connor Brown, NJD (2 goals)

• Jesper Bratt, NJD (SHG/GWG)

• Max Crozier, TBL (2 assists)