New Jersey Devils Strike in Tampa Bay for First Win

The Devils quickly extended their lead at 10:17 off the rush with a beautiful pass by Gritsyuk that found Connor Brown cutting to the net. Luke Hughes added a secondary assist.

New Jersey immediately went back to the power play after Max Crozier elbowed Meier. It was reviewed for a major penalty, but a minor was ultimately assessed. Hischier also took a high hit that went uncalled.

Again, the power play wasn’t crisp and was killed off, but the Captain, Hischier, added to the Devils’ lead with a wraparound goal that bounced off Vasilevskiy and another Lightning player before finding the back of the net at 13:48. Luke Hughes had the lone assist.

The Devils got another power play with under two minutes left in the period after Ondrej Palat was tripped into the boards. The power play was impressive to start, but the Devils gave up a few late shorthanded chances that Jacob Markstrom saved.

New Jersey outshot Tampa Bay 16-2 in a dominant first period effort.

Period Two

Tampa Bay killed the final 30 seconds of New Jersey’s power play to begin the period, and the Devils fell to 0-3 with the man advantage.

Brown and Gritsyuk combined for another grade-A look from the net front, another encouraging sign from the newcomers.

Tampa Bay had its first extended zone time of the game nearly five minutes into the second frame, but Markstrom made two key saves to hold New Jersey’s lead at three.

The Devils looked to have reestablished momentum, but they got caught by Tampa’s line change leading to a goal at 7:31 off an odd-man rush. Yanni Gourde had the goal from Brayden Point and Crozier.

New Jersey was tagged with an unfortunate delay-of-game penalty, but killed it with ease. Tampa appeared to score again, but the goal was immediately waived off for being hit into the net with a glove.

The Devils got their fourth power play of the evening, but couldn’t cash in.

Meier shattered his stick blocking a shot, giving the Lightning some zone time, and they eventually cashed in at 17:22. Ryan McDonagh was credited for the goal with assists from Brandon Hagel and Crozier.

The Devils pressed as the period expired, but couldn’t grab a late tally.

New Jersey was outshot 7-6 in the middle frame.

Period Three

Jonas Siegenthaler was called for an early tripping call, much to his displeasure, but Jesper Bratt made a phenomenal read to pick off a pass and scored shorthanded at 4:48. His goal was unassisted.

The Devils extended their lead minutes later with Brown’s second goal of the game at 6:29. Gritsyuk added another point, and Simon Nemec had the secondary assist.

Gritsyuk and Bratt each had breakaway attempts that Vasilevsky saved as New Jersey looked to take over the game. Zack MacEwen had another opportunity from the slot that nearly found the back of the net.

The Devils were doing a good job of clogging lanes, but eventually Tampa grabbed another late goal through a screen of Markstrom. Darren Raddysh cashed in at 16:17. Oliver Bjorkstrand and Gage Goncalves had the assists.

Tampa Bay pulled its netminder with just under three minutes left in the game. Markstrom tried to play the puck behind the net but fired it over the glass, giving the Lightning a six-on-four opportunity.

The Lightning opened fire on the Devils’ net, but Markstrom, combined with the penalty killers, made a heroic effort to hold the score and earn New Jersey its first victory of the season.

The Devils outshot the Lightning 29-17 in the 5-3 win.

Takeaways

Dancing Through Lightning Strikes

New Jersey did most of its damage in the first period, putting three goals in the net while the Lightning players seemed more interested in borderline illegal hits and starting scrums after the whistle. The Devils did well to match the physicality and stand up for themselves while also staying away from the other nonsense that could have landed them in the box.

Hischier stood out among the forwards as he repeatedly drove the net and created chances from in close, something that the team desperately needed last season. Gritsyuk tallied his first NHL point and seemed to find a connection with Brown, as the duo combined for two goals on the night and gave the Devils great depth, another needed offseason improvement.

Jack and Luke Hughes also haven’t seemed to miss a beat, despite offseason surgeries and Luke missing most of training camp and all of preseason due to contract negotiations. Though he didn’t tally a point, Jack Hughes had a team-leading seven shots on net and won 60% of his faceoffs. Luke Hughes added two assists, bringing his season total to four points in only two games.

Special Teams Ups and Downs

The Devils’ penalty kill was quite good against the Lightning, going a perfect 3-3. They did well clearing their zone and made it difficult for Tampa to get shots off from the dangerous areas of the ice. Additionally, they made some key shot blocks to help out their netminder.

Perhaps most notable was Bratt’s solo effort to jump the passing lane and spring himself on a breakaway, which he cashed in on. The combination of Bratt and Jack Hughes proved to be lethal in shorthanded scenarios last year, and in the early going, it seems like that will be the case again this season.

On the other hand, New Jersey’s power play has not been good in either regular-season game so far. It went 0-2 on Thursday against the Hurricanes and was unsuccessful again in Tampa Bay, going 0-4.

More concerning are the numerous chances that New Jersey is giving up with the man-advantage. Both the Hurricanes and Lightning had a few quick breaks and shots at the Devils’ net while down a man, and that needs to be cleaned up. The Devils rely on clean zone entries and maintaining possession, but they’ve run into problems at the blue line, which allows opposing teams to poke at the puck and send it the other way.

Additionally, their puck movement within the zone seems to decline when they have the man advantage. Whether it be overpassing, trying to be too fancy or maybe just the wrong mix of players between units, the Devils should be looking to eliminate those shorthanded rush chances.

Goaltending question?

Jacob Markstrom hasn’t had the best start to the season, but it shouldn’t be a cause for concern yet. The Devils, as a unit, did not play particularly well in Carolina, and that was reflected on the scoresheet even with the couple of soft goals that snuck in.

In Tampa Bay, Markstrom had a unique challenge of waiting around for extended periods without facing any kind of traffic. For goaltenders, a lack of work in a game can sometimes be harder to navigate than a game with super high shot counts, and that seemed to be the case against the Lightning. He was never able to get into a rhythm because of how much time the Devils were spending in the offensive zone.

The stat line wasn’t pretty, but when push came to shove and the Devils had to kill a late power play with Tampa’s net empty, he came up huge to protect the two-goal lead.

Up Next

The Devils finish off their road trip on Monday night when they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena.

The Blue Jackets are also off to a 1-1-0 start to their season. Most recently, they defeated the Minnesota Wild 7-4 on Saturday night.

Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. EDT on MSGSN.