Devils 2, Lightning 1
Mike Cammalleri snapped a tie with a power-play goal at 11:19 of the third period as visiting New Jersey edged Tampa Bay to remain unbeaten.
Travis Zajac recorded his first tally and Cammalleri added an assist for the Devils, who have won three straight road games to open the season for the first time in club history. Cory Schneider, in net for all three of those victories, turned aside 26 shots.
Alex Killorn scored his first goal of the campaign for the Lightning, who finished their season-opening homestand 2-1-1 after giving up their first power-play goal. Evgeni Nabokov made 23 saves in his debut with Tampa Bay.
The Lightning registered the first seven shots before the Devils responded, forcing Nabokov to make a paddle save on Michael Ryder late in the first period to keep it scoreless. Zajac jumped on the rebound of defenseman Andy Greene’s shot from the left point and flipped a shot past Nabokov on his second try 7:38 into the second to open the scoring.
Tyler Johnson worked his way between two defenders and fed Killorn, who beat Schneider from the bottom of the left faceoff circle 8:59 into the third to forge a tie. New Jersey answered 2:20 later, when Cammalleri swept in a rebound at the right side of the net after Nabokov had stopped Patrik Elias’ point-blank attempt.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Cammalleri, signed as a free agent in the offseason, has four goals and an assist in his first three games with the Devils. …. Tampa Bay D Radko Gudas was scratched due to an upper-body injury and D Andrej Sustr took his place. … Johnson played in his 100th NHL contest.