The New Jersey Devils (21-15-3) fell 4-3 in overtime to the Tampa Bay Lightning (21-17-5) on Thursday night. New Jersey now sits two points back of Tampa Bay for the final wild card spot, although the Devils do have four games in hand.
Game Summary
First Period
Tampa Bay created the first scoring chance of the night just over one minute in when the NHL points leader Nikita Kucherov tossed a puck to the front of the net. Vitek Vanecek made a nice pad save. However, Steven Stamkos jammed the puck into the net, but it was waved off due to incidental goaltender interference.
The Devils eventually found their footing, though, and it was Dawson Mercer who opened the scoring. Mercer drove the net with speed off a drop pass from Erik Haula. Andrei Vasilevskiy fought off the first chance, but Mercer buried the rebound off Vasilevskiy’s back to make it 1-0 New Jersey eight minutes in.
Tampa Bay found an equalizer through Luke Glendening with seven minutes to go in the period. A Nick Perbix wrister off a faceoff was deflected home by Glendening to tie the game at one.
The Devils had a late power play chance after Gage Goncalves took an extra roughing minor in a scrum with Nathan Bastian. However, it was Tampa Bay that took advantage.
Luke Hughes slipped and lost the puck to Luke Glendening who fired it through Vitek Vanecek, making it 2-1 Tampa Bay. That also made it back-to-back starts with a short-handed goal allowed from Vanecek.
After one, it was 2-1 Tampa Bay. Shots were 10-6 in favor of New Jersey while the Devils posted a 59.26 Corsi-for percentage (CF%) and a 61.02 expected goals-for percentage (xGF%) at five-on-five.
Second Period
The Devils started the second period well, forcing Vasilevskiy into a pair of good saves to deny Michael McLeod and Max Willman.
Shortly after a successful penalty kill and returning to five-on-five, Tampa Bay made it 3-1. With an extra attacker on the ice with a delayed penalty against New Jersey, Brayden Point was left all alone in the slot and ripped one past Vanecek midway through the period.
The Devils found a response before the end of the period, though. After several shifts hemming Tampa Bay in with the long change, John Marino threw one to the net that was deflected wide by Jesper Bratt. The rebound found the net off several Lightning bodies in front, cutting it to 3-2 late in the second.
In the second, shots were 10-9 in favor of New Jersey. The Devils also put up a 56.25 CF% and a 74.55 xGF% at five-on-five.
Third Period
Tampa Bay began the third with 1:09 of carry-over power play time after Colin Miller’s penalty. The Lightning were unable to challenge Vanecek, though.
Four minutes into the final period, Nathan Bastian made a great play at the Tampa Bay blue line to intercept a pass and ripped it past Vasilevskiy on a breakaway to tie the game at three.
Moments later, Erik Haula wired a shot of the crossbar from a sharp angle. Then, on the next shift, the Devils thought they re-took the lead when Michael McLeod jammed home a loose puck in front, but it was overturned after a Tampa Bay challenge for offside.
Neither team could find a late breakthrough, and this one headed to overtime tied at three.
In the third, New Jersey outshot Tampa Bay 8-4 and the Devils registered a stellar 78.26 CF% and a 89.97 xGF% at five-on-five.
Overtime
Erik Haula, Jesper Bratt, and Luke Hughes started out overtime for the Devils and the Lightning started with possession.
After a couple of rushes each way, Nikita Kucherov set up Darren Raddysh at the top of the circle. Raddysh picked the corner, winning it for Tampa Bay.
Wrap-Up
The Devils picked up a point with the overtime loss despite outshooting the Lightning 30-20 on the night. New Jersey posted a 63.41 CF% and a dominant 72.67 xGF% at five-on-five throughout the contest.
Vitek Vanecek took the loss, making 16 saves on 20 shots, allowing -1.87 goals above expected.
Andrei Vasilevskiy got the win for Tampa Bay, turning aside 27 of 30 shots faced. He allowed -0.38 goals above expected.
Game Notes
Hischier Line Dominant
With several key players out due to injury, a lot was expected from the New Jersey captain tonight, and he certainly delivered. During 13:34 of five-on-five ice time with Erik Haula and Dawson Mercer, the Hischier line absolutely dominated the play.
The trio posted a staggering 98.03 xGF% to go with an 80.00 CF%. The Hischier line also had a tremendous 12-0 edge in scoring chances as well as a 4-0 edge in high-danger chances. They also combined for a goal when Dawson Mercer opened the scoring in the first period.
Perhaps most impressive was that in those 13 minutes together, the Hischier line limited Tampa Bay to just 0.02 expected goals. Despite the result, this line’s two-way dominance was crucial to the Devils outplaying the Lightning without several standout players, and if that can continue, the Devils will be able to weather this stretch of injuries.
Hughes-Marino Pair
Despite a Luke Hughes slip leading to a bad turnover on the power play and a short-handed goal against, it was a strong night from the Hughes and Marino defensive pair at five-on-five. The duo both posted an xGF% north of 89.00, behind only the trio of forwards making up the Hischier line.
The pair also had a 8-1 edge in scoring chances and a 3-0 edge in high-danger chances, which led all Devils’ defensemen.
Bratt Drives Play
Rounding out the top six was the line of Jesper Bratt, Tyler Toffoli, and Michael McLeod. Throughout the night, Bratt was constantly creating chances with his elite edgework and found himself on a couple of breakaways that he couldn’t quite finish.
As a trio, the line played nearly 12 minutes together at five-on-five. In that time, they registered an 89.71 xGF% and a 2-0 edge in high-danger chances. Among Devils’ skaters, only the Hischier line and the Hughes and Marino pair had better underlying metrics in the loss.
What’s Next
The Devils continue their three-game road swing against the Florida Panthers on Saturday night. This will be the second matchup of the year between the two teams. Florida defeated New Jersey 4-3 back in October. Puck drop is set for 6:00 p.m. ET on MSGSN.
Note: All statistics via Natural Stat Trick