There would be no spoiling an honorable night for Andrei Vasilevskiy. The Tampa Bay Lightning recognized their prized goalie for being the fastest in NHL history to win 300 games. After two strong games against the Florida Panthers, the Devils stumbled in the finale. New Jersey fell short, losing to the Lightning 4-0.

Game Recap 

First Period

The first period was evenly matched in terms of offensive generation. Both teams took to the attack and each goaltender made key saves.

The Devils’ elite penalty kill remained strong when it had to be, but shortly after a Tampa Bay power play the Lightning surged to scoring the first goal of the game. After a good offensive zone shift, Jake Guentzel found Nick Paul and he ripped a shot past Markstrom who was screened by a Lightning player. Markstrom continued to be steady in the period, robbing Connor Geekie right in the slot. The horn sounded and the Devils would trail 1-0.

Things were tightly contested during five-on-five play. The Lightning held a slight edge in shot attempts (15-13), but the shots were even a five per team. The Devils could not muster up anything of quality, only generating three shot attempts from the high-danger areas of the ice. The Lightning held the edge in scoring chances (7-3) and controlled the expected goals share 0.52-0.39. 

Second Period

It was a slow start to the period for the Devils. They went the first five minutes of the period without a shot on goal. The Devils penalty kill came up large once again and a power play sparked momentum. The Devils got terrific chances from Jesper Bratt and Nico Hischier, but Vasilevskiy slammed the door shut.

Markstrom matched Vasilevskiy at the other end, with a post to post save to prevent a goal. Both teams kept trading chances and both goalies stood tall. No goals were scored and the Devils trailed 1-0 heading into the third period. 

This was a much better period for the Devils, especially after that first power play. During five-on-five play, the Devils held the edge in shot attempts 20-11. However, they were only able to generate four scoring chances and two high-danger shot attempts. It was still a lower event period, with the Devils controlling the expected goals share 0.6-0.53. The Devils did have 14 shots on net, which was much better.

Third Period

The third period was all Lightning. 39 seconds into the period, Taylor Raddysh blasted a shot past Markstrom after the Lightning won the faceoff. Then, the power play went to work. Kucherov fed a pass right into the wheelhouse of captain Victor Hedman who placed a perfect shot to extend the lead 3-0. Of the four goals Hedman scored this season, three of them have come against the Devils. Any empty-net goal was scored and the Lightning won 4-0. 

Game Notes 

• Despite not scoring a single goal, Jack Hughes was impacting the game offensively. With him on the ice, shot attempts were 19-9, good for a 69.23 Corsi-for percentage. Also, the Devils outshot the Lightning and held the edge in expected goals for percentage with 53.04. Results weren’t there, but impact was.

• The Devils had a hard time establishing the quality of chances. The Lightning defense kept them to the perimeter and if all 29 shots they fired, 18 came from low danger areas. Based on the heat map, getting to the inner slot was hard to come by.

What’s Next? 

The Devils will return home and will face the Carolina Hurricanes Thursday November 21.