A blistering opening stretch powered the injury-ravaged Tampa Bay Lightning to an emphatic 8–4 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night, as three early goals sent goalie Jacob Markstrom to the bench before the game was eight minutes old.
Nick Paul, Darren Raddysh, and Pontus Holmberg all scored in the first eight minutes, stunning the Devils and setting the tone for a dominant Tampa Bay performance. The Lightning, who had struggled to score during a recent four-game skid that included consecutive shutout losses, have now put together back-to-back wins with a combined 14 goals.
Oliver Bjorkstrand scored twice, while Jake Guentzel, Brandon Hagel, and Brayden Point added goals of their own. Nikita Kucherov orchestrated the attack with four assists. Goaltender Jonas Johansson, starting for the fifth straight game in place of injured starter Andrei Vasilevskiy, finished with 33 saves.
Despite missing Vasilevskiy, captain Victor Hedman, and defensemen Ryan McDonagh and Erik Cernak, Tampa Bay erupted offensively. Coach Jon Cooper, who recently noted his depleted club’s strong play aside from scoring woes, finally saw the production catch up.
Markstrom was pulled after allowing three goals on seven shots, marking the first performance-based benching of his season. His save percentage dipped to .875. Jake Allen took over and surrendered five goals on 28 shots.
For New Jersey, Luke Hughes, Jesper Bratt, Angus Crookshan,k and Paul Cotter found the net, but the Devils continued to slide, losing six of their last seven and nine of their past 14 games since top center Jack Hughes underwent finger surgery.
The night also featured the NHL debut of Xavier Parent, who was called up as the Devils played without Timo Meier, away from the team due to a family health matter.
Up Next
-
Lightning: Visit the New York Islanders on Saturday.
-
Devils: Host the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday.
