Saturday night, the New Jersey Devils defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 to improve to 26-15-4 on the season. An overtime winner from Stefan Noesen pushed the Devils home winning streak to six.
Recap
Period One
The Devils started off hot in this one and it resulted in an early goal. After cycling the puck, Dougie took a shot from the point which was tipped in front by Ondrej Palat. Shortly after, Nick Paul won an offensive zone faceoff back and Victor Hedman let a shot fly from the blueline. It somehow got by Jacob Markström, tying the game at one.
Period Two
The Devils had another very good period in the second and eventually, the Devils got a bounce which led to a goal. Jack Hughes intercepted a pass from Brayden Point and took a shot that went off the stick of, the man who turned it over, Point. It beat the Lightning goalie clean. The Devils held a 2-1 lead going into the third.
Period Three
The Devils would start this movie by killing off two straight penalties but not without the help of Jacob Markstrom. Point got the puck right in front of the net, and with an open cage was robbed by the Devils netminder.
Shortly after, however, a puck bounced off the skate of an official and it led directly to a Nikita Kucherov breakaway. He made no mistake and buried it. Things would stay even at two as we head to overtime.
Overtime
The Devils controlled a majority of possession in the overtime period and eventually that led to a tripping call on Ondrej Paul. The Devils would initially send out Hughes, Dougie Hamilton, Jesper Bratt, and Nico Hischier. However after an unsuccessful first minute, Hamilton was swapped out for a fourth forward in Stefan Noesen. Noesen was the player who eventually found the puck in front of the net and whacked it home for the Devils first home win of 2025.
Game Notes
Cracking the Overtime Code
The Devils picked up their second overtime win of the season and their first since November. Even before they drew the penalty which led to the game-winning goal, the Devils controlled a majority of possession, waiting for the right moment to strike. That was key in this specific overtime given the players the Lightning have on their roster.
Bottom-Six Struggles
The Devils have had struggles with their forward depth for some time now this season. Normally, though, the bottom two lines are at least able to hold their own. However, Saturday, that was not the case.
At five-on-five the Devils had a 66.7 Corsi-for percentage (CF%) and 64.7 expected goals percentage (xG%) when their top two lines were on the ice. When the bottom two were out there it was much worse; 31.6 CF% and 39.7 xG%.
What’s Next?
The Devils finally have a couple days off before welcoming in another Florida team, the Panthers, to the Prudential Center Tuesday. Puck drop is slated for 7:30 pm ET.