Hockey, Devils Struck Down By Lightning 6-3

Devils Head into Break With A Lot To Think About By Matt Blittner, The New York Extra/TheNYExtra.com

There’s a fine line in hockey between getting some rest and having too much rest. The game of hockey takes a large physical toll on its players. Anytime teams have a couple days to heal their bumps and bruises in between games is a welcome development. However, on the flipside, once you go more than a couple days without playing, some of the sharpness you’ve accrued begins to wane. Players are creatures of habit and extended breaks, like the one the Devils now have, are not as welcome.

In four games this season following a minimum of four days off between games, the Devils are 1-3-0. Clearly, the Devils would prefer to get right back out there rather than wait around for days on end. Following New Jersey’s 6-3 loss to the Lightning Tuesday night at Prudential Center, the Devils will now wait nine long days before their next game; a road tilt against the Penguins. The hope is that this extended break won’t follow the same pattern as the others the team has had this year.

As for what the Devils did against Tampa…

1) The game started as a defensive affair with several giveaways by both sides. Then, with 8:27 gone by, Jack Hughes harassed Erik Cernak in front of Tampa’s net and Cernak put the puck past Andrei Vasilevskiy for the 1-0 Devils lead. Even though Hughes was the cause of the play, Dawson Mercer was credited with the goal since it was his initial shot that Cernak mishandled. 

2) 38-seconds later, Tampa applied pressure to the Devils in New Jersey’s zone and Pat Maroon put the puck past Jon Gillies – with a little help from his friends Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Corey Perry – to tie the game. It was also the first true shot on goal of the game by either side. 

3) With 17:48 gone in the first period, Corey Perry was sent to the box to serve Tampa’s too many men on the ice penalty. On the ensuing power-play Yegory Sharangovich scored from between the hashmarks on a broken play to give the Devils a 2-1 lead with 56-seconds left in the opening period. 

4) New Jersey started the second period off strong when Jack Hughes collected his own rebound against Vasilevskiy and scored from the doorstep to increase the Devils’ lead to 3-1 1:48 into the second period. 

On the play, Dawson Mercer was credited with an assist, giving him three points through the first 21:48 of the game. Let the young kids play, play together and good things will happen. 

5) The next several minutes passed without much incident. Then, at 10:09 of the middle period, Mason Geertsen was sent to the box for hooking Ryan McDonagh. New Jersey killed off the penalty without much fuss; which was key. Teams like Tampa don’t usually let such golden opportunities slip through their fingers. 

That penalty-kill then led to a power-play opportunity for the Devils when Jan Rutta was sent off for hooking just under a minute after Geertsen’s penalty expired. On the power-play for the second time in the game, New Jersey tried to add to its lead but Tampa bore down and held tough. 

6) Then, 31-seconds after Rutta was released, Steven Stamkos wired a shot past Jon Gillies to bring Tampa within 3-2 at the 15:32 mark of the second period. And 41-seconds after Stamkos’ goal, Alex Killorn joined the party with the game-tying goal on a deflection in front of Gillies. The initial shot was fired by Mikhail Sergachev. 3-3 at 16:13 of the middle period. 

“We kind of gave up when they tied the game,” said Tomas Tatar. “We have a young team and need to learn from this.”

7) The third period didn’t see any goals scored until the 7:17 mark when Victor Hedman blasted a one-timer from the point past Gillies to put Tampa in front 4-3. And that’s when things went downhill for New Jersey. 

8) 1:57 after Hedman’s go-ahead goal, Nikita Kucherov increased the Devils’ deficit to 5-3 when he scored on a breakaway. And 1:07 after Kucherov’s goal, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare cleaned up the loose puck to make it 6-3 Tampa with 9:39 remaining in the game. 

“The third period ended up being the difference,” said Devils Head Coach Lindy Ruff.

9) After Bellemare’s goal Devils’ Ruff swapped out Jon Gillies for Nico Daws. Gillies and the Devils allowed three Tampa goals in a span of 3:04.

“It’s frustrating,” said Tomas Tatar. “We just stopped playing.”

“I don’t know what happened out there,” said Damon Severson. “We didn’t defend when we needed to…It’s the little things that are hurting us.”

Some typical “testiness” – that’s Ken Daneyko’s own word for those who watched the broadcast – occurred towards the end of the game. After that the game ended 6-3 in favor of the Lightning as the Devils went from playing fairly well for 40-minutes to unraveling in the third period. Now the Devils head into an eight-day break before they return to play the Penguins in Pittsburgh.

GAME NOTES

New Jersey’s power-play went 1-for-3 on the night. Meanwhile the Devils went 1-for-1 on the penalty-kill…Yegor Sharangovich led all Devils forwards in ice time at 19:21…Damon Severson led all New Jersey defensemen in ice time at 22:55…Jimmy Vesey played in his 400th career NHL game…The three goals scored by New Jersey brought their season total against Andrei Vasilevskiy up to nine, the most by any opponent in the league. Thanks to Nick Cahill for pointing out that stat…Nico Daws replaced Jon Gillies for the final 9:39 of the game.