Brandon Hagel recorded a goal and two assists, Andrei Vasilevskiy made 22 saves, and the Tampa Bay Lightning scored four unanswered goals to secure a 4-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night.
Anthony Cirelli, Alex Killorn, and Nikita Kucherov also scored for Tampa Bay in the first of a two-game series. The teams will meet again in New Jersey on Thursday night before facing off in Florida on Sunday night.
“They’re one of the top teams in the league,” Hagel said. “They’ve had an incredible season and are a playoff team, so this is a good test for us. Hopefully, we can build some momentum from this.”
Damon Severson opened the scoring for the Devils at 5:55 of the first period. However, Ryan Graves’ apparent goal midway through the first was disallowed due to goalie interference following a coach’s challenge.
“We didn’t start bad, that’s for sure,” New Jersey defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler said. “We just need to be consistent over 60 minutes.”
Cirelli tied the game on a short-handed backhander with 3:43 left in the first period.
“It goes from potentially being down 2-0 with their power play to being 1-1, which was a huge spark for us,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “The challenge and the short-handed goal were big parts of the game.”
Hagel led Tampa Bay midway through the second period with his 24th goal of the season. Alex Killorn added his 21st, and Nikita Kucherov scored 27th just before the second-period horn.
“There were some big moments, and I think Kucherov finished just before the horn was key,” Cooper said. “The fourth goal was definitely the one that sealed it.”
Tampa Bay scored three goals in the second period on just seven shots.
Vitek Vanecek made 26 saves for New Jersey.
“I look at Vitek’s last game and how well he played. He wasn’t the one turning pucks over or giving up the short-handed goal,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. “You can always go to the goaltender, but he made key saves last game.”
Game Notes:
- Forward Curtis Lazar made his Devils debut after being acquired at the trade deadline from the Vancouver Canucks, replacing Nathan Bastian (upper-body injury).
- Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos (leg injury) remains day-to-day.
UP NEXT:
- Lightning: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.
- Devils: Visit the Florida Panthers on Saturday night.
