Mackenzie Blackwood made a crucial penalty shot save in the third period, finishing with 31 stops, as Yegor Sharangovich scored his second goal of the game during New Jersey’s four-goal third period to secure a 5-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.
The Devils also saw goals from Dawson Mercer, Jimmy Vesey, and Tomas Tatar.
“We didn’t like where we were at after two periods, and we came out with a lot more fire,” Vesey said.
Jan Rutta, Pat Maroon, and Victor Hedman scored for the Lightning, whose nine-game point streak ended. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 22 saves.
“The (other) team outworked us,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “It’s simple. It’s the National Hockey League; when you get outworked, you play with fire. A sense of arrogance. We thought this would be easy when we got up 3-1. We got what we deserved.”
Sharangovich, who also had an assist, netted the Devils’ third consecutive third-period goal from the low left circle, putting New Jersey up 4-3 at 9:34. Tatar later added an empty-net goal.
Rutta scored the first goal 5:49 into the game, but Sharangovich equalized six minutes before the end of the first period, ending a 16-game goal drought. Maroon restored Tampa Bay’s lead with a power-play goal at 1:45 left in the first period.
Hedman extended the Lightning’s lead to 3-1 at 6:17 of the second period, skating in alone from the blue line and scoring from the left circle off a pass from Boris Katchouk.
Mercer pulled the Devils within one, scoring a clever goal just 1:12 into the third period by feigning a wraparound before stuffing the puck past Vasilevskiy.
Shortly after Blackwood made a glove save on Alex Killorn during a two-man breakaway, Vesey tied the game at 3-3 on a breakaway at 5:39.
“Just trying to follow the puck,” Blackwood said. “I don’t think many people expect you to make saves in that situation, so you really have nothing to lose.”
Maroon echoed Cooper’s sentiments, acknowledging that the team got what it deserved.
“We just didn’t come out and play the way we’re capable of playing,” Maroon said. “Obviously, the goalie made huge saves there, and they capitalized on it.”
POWER-LESS PLAY
The Devils are an NHL-worst 1 for 22 on-road power plays after failing to score on three chances. New Jersey even allowed a breakaway and a 3-on-1 during a second-period power play.
ONGOING DROUGHT
Lightning RW Corey Perry, who had a first-period shot from the low left circle stopped, has not scored in his last 36 games. He has one assist in 16 games this season and was given a minor penalty in the second for an illegal check to the head on Devils C Nico Hischier, who briefly entered the concussion protocol before returning.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Lightning coach Jon Cooper is hopeful that Brayden Point will not miss any time after crashing hard into the end boards following a trip midway through the third period. It set up a penalty shot with the Lightning down 4-3, but Point hit the crossbar. The center appeared to favor his left arm-shoulder area.
UP NEXT
- Devils: Host Minnesota on Wednesday night.
- Lightning: Complete back-to-back home games with a contest Sunday against Minnesota.
