Lightning at Devils
The Tampa Bay Lightning are finding different ways to earn victories every night and look to extend their winning streak to a franchise-record 11 games when they visit the New Jersey Devils on Sunday night. The Lightning scored nine goals in a victory over Vancouver on Tuesday before registering consecutive shutouts, including a 1-0 triumph at Philadelphia on Saturday.
“We’re defending well. There’s an attention to detail going on in the (defensive) zone. Guys are committed,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper told reporters after matching last season's 10-game winning streak. “We knew what we had to do to get back into the race and now that we’re back in it we want to keep this roll going, and it starts with your own end. The boys are committed right now and it’s been fun to watch.” The Lightning have allowed 17 goals during their streak and only needed one Saturday from Pat Maroon, who ended a 23-game drought but left the game in the third period after crashing into the boards and suffering an apparent upper-body injury. Tampa Bay won’t have it easy against the Devils, who won at NHL-best Washington 5-1 on Saturday and are 7-4-2 in their last 13 contests. Center Nico Hischier scored twice in the victory over the Capitals and has six goals to go along with four assists in his last eight games for New Jersey, which gave Tampa Bay all it could handle in a 7-6 overtime loss Oct. 30.
TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: FS Sun, MSG Plus
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (27-13-4): Cooper did not have an update on Maroon’s condition, but the power forward could add to a growing injury list that includes left wing Ondrej Palat (day-to-day) and defenseman Ryan McDonagh (indefinite) with upper-body ailments. Leading scorer Nikita Kucherov (49 points) and fellow forward Brayden Point (18 goals) both saw their six-game point streaks come to an end Saturday, but combined for six shots. Andrei Vasilevskiy, who shares the league lead with 22 victories, has won eight straight games after pitching back-to-back shutouts but will likely relinquish the net to backup Curtis McElhinney (5-4-2, .904 save percentage) Sunday.
ABOUT THE DEVILS (16-21-7): Right wing Kyle Palmieri chipped in with an assist in Saturday’s victory to push his team-leading point total to 31, but Hischier is hot on his heels with 28 after his recent surge. Nikita Gusev, a former draft pick of the Lightning, scored for the eighth time this season Saturday and has 26 points overall while fellow forward Blake Coleman netted his 15th goal to pull within one of Palmieri for the team lead. Mackenzie Blackwood (14-12-6) sat out Saturday with a minor upper-body injury but could return to the net Sunday, or former Tampa Bay goalie Louis Domingue may go for wins on back-to-back nights after turning aside 33 shots against the Capitals.
OVERTIME
1. New Jersey F Jesper Bratt (eight goals, 15 points) returned to the lineup Saturday after missing three games with a foot injury and was a plus-2 with two shots.
2. Tampa Bay LW Alex Killorn shares the team lead with 18 goals and scored nine in his past 12 games.
3. The Devils recalled G Evan Cormier from AHL Binghamton to back up Domingue on Saturday and the rookie is another possibility to start Sunday.