Devils at Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning have made it a little easier on themselves by scoring the first goal in their last four games and hope to keep that trend going when they host the New Jersey Devils on Sunday. The Lightning scored in the first minute for the second straight contest Friday and finished the first period with four goals en route to a 4-2 triumph over Chicago - their fourth victory in five games.
“We got off to a really good start,” Tampa Bay center Tyler Johnson told reporters after scoring twice in the first period on Friday. “When you get the lead early, it makes it a little bit easier to play the rest of the game. We felt good the way we were playing and kept on going.” Nikita Kucherov assisted on three goals in the opening session against the Blackhawks to continue his offensive surge and has recorded 21 points in 13 games since netting two tallies and setting up another in an 8-3 home victory over New Jersey on Oct. 30. The Devils were in a tailspin at that time but have righted the ship a bit with points in five of their last six contests (3-1-2), although they dropped a 4-3 decision in overtime to the New York Islanders on Friday - losing for the third time in three tries in the extra session. “Look at the standings. Look how tight everything is,” New Jersey center Brian Boyle told reporters after the setback. “Even a tough start is something you don’t want to happen. It’s going to happen, but we really try to focus. That’s what we can control.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG Plus (New Jersey), FS Sun (Tampa Bay)
ABOUT THE DEVILS (9-9-3): Taylor Hall has stepped up in the last two games, registering two goals and two assists to take over the team lead with 23 points - two better than linemate Kyle Palmieri (club-high 12 goals). New Jersey needs to get more from its power play, which has gone 1-for-19 over the last nine games to drop to 12th in the league (21.4 percent), while its penalty kill is 14-for-14 in the past five contests. Rookie right wing Joey Anderson was placed on injured reserve with a lower-body injury, but defenseman Sami Vatanen (lower body) returned to the lineup Friday after missing three games.
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (16-6-1): Kucherov has collected two goals and 10 assists during his five-game point streak to take over the team scoring lead with 30 points - two better than new linemate Brayden Point, who has netted six of his team-best 15 tallies in the last five contests. Kucherov, Point and Johnson teamed up for the second straight game and combined for seven points while captain Steven Stamkos skated between J.T. MIller and Yanni Gourde - a trio that totaled eight points in the previous contest against Florida. Rookie defenseman Erik Cernak notched two assists Friday and has posted a plus-5 rating in his first six NHL games.
OVERTIME
1. Hall, the reigning Hart Trophy winner, needs one assist to reach 300 for his career, two goals to hit 200 and three points to make it to 500.
2. Tampa Bay D Ryan McDonagh has recorded five of his 17 points in the last three games and entered Saturday tied for the league lead with a plus-15 rating.
3. Devils 19-year-old C Nico Hischier is slated to play his 100th NHL game on Sunday.