NEW JERSEY DEVILS NOTES:
Last Game:
New Jersey Devils 2 Florida Panthers 4 (ENG)
(44-18-7 – 95 PTS) (35-27-7 – 77 PTS)
Three Stars: 1. M. Tkachuk 2. S. Reinhart 3. A. Barkov
SCORE 1ST 2ND 3RD OT SO FINAL
Florida 0 0 4 – – 4
DEVILS 0 2 0 – – 2
Goals:
FLA: A. Barkov, S. Reinhart (PPG), M. Tkachuk, S. Reinhart (ENG)
NJD: N. Hischier (SHG), J. Boqvist
INJURIES/ILLNESS
PLAYER INJURY OUT SINCE GAMES MISSED
Jonathan Bernier – LTIR Lower-body, hip 2021-22 69
Mackenzie Blackwood I.R. Lower-body 2/21/23 13
2022-23 Total Man-Games Lost to Injury/illness: 186
TRANSACTIONS
DATE PLAYER ACTION
3/17/23 Nolan Foote Recalled from Utica
WHAT TO KNOW
The Devils visit Tampa for the lone time this season and also conclude the 2022-23 regular-season series with the Bolts. Jersey hits the ice for the second half of the team’s 10th back-to-back set for the 2022-23 campaign, after the Devils fell to Florida on Saturday night by a score of 4-2. Jersey’s team is 5-4-1 in first games played for back-to-back sets and 7-2-0 in second half games played this season. After Saturday night’s loss, the Devils are 28-1-2 when leading after the second period in a game this season. The Devils hosted Tampa for consecutive home games via Tuesday, March 14, and Thursday, March 16. The Devils logged a 4-1 loss on Tuesday and then a 4-3 shootout loss on Thursday. The last time that the Devils played Tampa in consecutive games, and with no games vs other opponents in between, in the regular-season was Jan. 9, 2011, to Jan. 14. Jersey team hosted the Bolts in the first game (6-3, W) and then visited Tampa for the second contest (5-2, W). The consecutive contests vs Tampa marked the first time in franchise history that the team plays Tampa at home in the regular season and in consecutive games. The Devils never visited Tampa for consecutive games played in franchise history. The Devils are 0-2-1 in their last three games played, which marks the first time since Dec. 9, 2022, to Dec. 20, (0-5-1) that the team experienced a winless streak of three, or more, games. The Devils enter Sunday’s contest seven wins shy of tying the franchise record (51) for the most wins in a single season, which was earned in 2008-09. The last time that the Devils earned 44 wins in a singles season was in 2017-18, and the last time that Jersey logged more than 44 wins in a season was in 2011-12 (48-28-6).
MARCH MADNESS
The Devils’ schedule for March entails 16 games, which marks the most contests that the team plays in a single month this season. The second most games played in a single month this season was 14 in November, after the team posted a 13-1-0 record. Jersey’s team enters Sunday’s contest with a 25-5-4 road record for 2022-23. The 25 road victories are tied with Boston for the most in the NHL this season. New Jersey logged 28 road wins (28-10-3) in 1998-99, which marked the most road victories in franchise history. The Devils are scheduled for six more road games, after Sunday’s contest vs Tampa.
VS CONFERENCE/DIVISION
The Devils are 21-4-4 vs the Western Conference this season. The franchise record for most wins vs the Western Conference was 18, which was logged in 2000-01. The Devils enter Sunday’s contest with a 23-14-3 record vs the Eastern Conference and a 9-9-1 record vs the Atlantic Division for 2022-23.
BACK-TO-BACK GAMES
Overall: 12-6-1
First game: 5-4-1 | home: 0-1-0 | road: 5-3-1
Second game: 7-2-0 | home: 3-2-0 | road: 4-0-0
VS TAMPA
The Devils conclude their 2022-23 regular-season series vs Tampa, but also visit the Bay area for the first time this season. Jersey’s team was 1-1-0 vs the Lightning on the road last season. New Jersey was one of four teams last season (TOR, PIT, BOS) that scored five, or more, goals against the Lightning on the road. Jersey was the only team that faced penalty shots against Tampa last season, while Mackenzie Blackwood and Jon Gillies stopped both shooters. Gillies stopped A. Cirelli on Jan. 27, 2022, and in the second period. Blackwood stopped B. Point on Nov. 20, 2021, and in third period. New Jersey netminders faced three total penalty shots vs the Lightning since 2012-13, which are the most penalty shot attempts that Tampa earned vs any team since that time. Martin Brodeur also stopped J.T. Brown on March 15, 2014.
The Devils and Lightning met in the Stanley Cup Playoffs on three occasions:
2003: NJD won in 5 games
2007: NJD won in 6 games
2017-18: TBL won in 5 games
ALL-TIME vs THE BOLTS
Record: 60-32-7-8
Home: 35-15-2-4
Road: 25-17-5-4
DID YOU KNOW…
The most goals in franchise history earned in a single game vs TBL was nine on March 23, 1993, in a 9-3 win at the Meadowlands. The most goals that the Devils allowed in a single game vs TBL was eight on Oct. 30, 2018, at Tampa, after an 8-3 loss. The most shots that Jersey earned in a single game vs TBL was 45 on Nov. 23, 2008, in a 7-3 win at Tampa. The most shots that the Devils allowed in a single game vs TBL was 51 on Feb. 17, 2018, in a 4-3 win at Tampa. The last time the Devils shut out TBL was on Jan. 26, 2007, in a 2-0 win at Tampa (M. Brodeur, 23 saves). The last time Tampa shut out the Devils was on Feb. 26, 2016, in a 4-0 loss at the Rock (B. Bishop, 21 saves).
LAST TRADE
The last time that the Devils and Lightning executed a trade was on Feb. 16, 2020, when the Devils acquired Nolan Foote and a 2020 1st-round draft pick in exchange for Blake Coleman.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE .
Tue. Mar. 21, vs MIN, 7:00 P.M.
Fri. Mar. 24, at BUF, 7:00 P.M.
Sat. Mar. 25, vs OTT, 7:00 P.M.
Mon. Mar. 27, at NYI, 7:30 P.M.
Thu. Mar. 30, vs NYR, 7:00 P.M.
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING NOTES:
LAST GAME
Lightning 5 vs. Montreal 3
The Tampa Bay Lightning collected a third-straight victory with a 5-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens March 18 at AMALIE Arena…Tampa Bay moved to 42-22-6 on the season with a home record of 24-6-5…The Lightning improved to 3-0-0 vs. MTL this season with the fourth and final meeting set for March 21 at Bell Centre…Mike Hoffman opened the scoring at the 5:12 mark of the first period to give MTL an early 1-0 lead…Victor Hedman answered for the Bolts and tied the game 1-1 when he took a pass from Nick Paul in the slot and beat Sam Montembeault low blocker with 8:29 remaining in the opening period…After a Nikita Kucherov shot was redirected wide of the net, Brandon Hagel jumped on the rebound that had caromed off the boards and fired home a tight-angle shot to give the Lightning a 2-1 lead 4:50 into the second period…Denis Gurianov tied the game for MTL just 1:39 after Hagel’s go-ahead goal…Jesse Ylonen scored with a one-timer on the power play at the 12:23 mark of the middle frame and sent MTL into the second intermission with a 3-2 lead…Steven Stamkos tied the game 3-3 at the 3:14 mark of the third when Kucherov put a pass in his wheelhouse and he fired home his patented one-timer on the power play for his 30th goal of the year…Hagel scored a go-ahead goal for the second time just 2:44 after the Stamkos goal when he positioned himself in front of Montembeault and redirected a point shot from Sergachev to put Tampa Bay up 4-3…Hagel completed his hat trick with an empty-net goal at the 19:16 mark of the third, his second career hat trick…Brian Elliott got the start in goal for the Bolts and made 18 saves on 21 shots against…Hagel played his 200th career game.
PP: TBL – 1-2 MTL – 1-2
SOG: TBL – 41 MTL – 21
Attendance: 19,092
TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
The Lightning and Devils are playing the third of three matchups this season and the only meeting at AMALIE Arena…Tampa Bay is playing NJD for the third time over the course of six days after recording a 4-1 win March 14 and a 4-3 shootout win March 16, both at Prudential Center…Despite playing in just one of the two meetings, Steven Stamkos (2-1—3) leads all Bolts skaters in goals vs. NJD this season and is tied with Brandon Hagel (1-2—3) and Mikhail Sergachev (0-3—3) for the team lead in points…Stamkos has picked up points in three straight games vs. NJD (3-2—5) and six of his last eight home contests vs. NJD (4-4—8)…Nikita Kucherov has points in three straight games vs. NJD (2-2—4) and seven consecutive home contests vs. NJD (4-10—14)…Brayden Point has found the scoresheet in six of his seven career home games vs. NJD (5-7—12) and recorded a career high five-point game Oct. 30, 2018 vs. NJD (1-4—5)…Hagel has pointed in three of his four career games vs. NJD (4-3—7) and scored his only career hat trick Feb. 25, 2022 vs. NJD…Victor Hedman has picked up points in five straight home games vs. NJD (2-4—6)…The Lightning have scored three or more goals in 12 of the last 14 matchups vs. NJD (total: 58 goals)…Tampa Bay is 7-3-0 in their last 10 home games vs. NJD and 8-2-0 the last 10 meetings overall…The Bolts are 40-52-8 with seven ties all-time vs. NJD, including a home record of 21-22-3 with five ties…Vincent Lecavalier (16-28—44) and Martin St. Louis (18-26—44) are tied for the most career points vs. NJD in Tampa Bay franchise history, while Stamkos (23-19—42) holds the franchise record for the most career goals.
TBL ALL-TIME POINT LEADERS VS. NJD
T1. Martin St. Louis – 44 pts. (18-26—44, 48 GP)
T1. Vincent Lecavalier – 44 pts. (16-28—44, 52 GP)
- Steven Stamkos – 42 pts. (23-19—42, 40 GP)
- Nikita Kucherov – 27 pts. (9-18—27, 20 GP)
T5. Brayden Point – 22 pts. (7-15—22, 16 GP)
T5. Brad Richards – 22 pts. (4-18—22, 27 GP)
TONIGHT’S STORYLINES
Tampa Bay is playing the second game of a brief, two-game homestand tonight…The Bolts will play eight of their 16 games in March on home ice…The Lightning are 10-6-2 against Metropolitan Division opponents and 21-14-3 against the Eastern Conference this season…Tampa Bay is 25-6-5 on home ice this season…The Bolts have scored a powerplay goal in 27 of 36 home games…Ondrej Palat is set to play his first game at AMALIE Arena since signing with NJD last summer…Among all skaters in Tampa Bay franchise history, Palat (143-280—423, 628 GP) ranks eighth in games played, seventh in assists, ninth in points, 10th in goals and second in plus/minus (+147)…Palat’s 12 game-winning goals in the postseason remain the most in Lightning franchise history.
INJURIES
2022-23 Regular Season Man Games Lost: 104
Current Injuries:
None
HOME COOKING
The Lightning are 25-6-5 at home this season with a .764 points percentage, trailing only Boston (.864) for the NHL lead…Tampa Bay has scored three or more goals in 15 of their last 17 games at home and 30 of 36 home games overall…The Bolts lead the NHL with a 4.00 goals per game average on home ice…Tampa Bay’s power play is clicking at a 31.3% conversion rate on home ice, the second-best among all NHL teams, trailing only Edmonton (32.1%).
