Thursday, March 28, 2024
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NHL Preview: Tampa Bay Lightning (39-22-6) at New Jersey Devils (44-16-6)

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING NOTES:

LAST GAME
Lightning 2 vs. Winnipeg 3
The Tampa Bay Lightning nearly forced overtime but dropped a 3-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets March 12 at AMALIE Arena…The Bolts wrapped up the season series vs. WPG with an 0-2-0 record…Tampa Bay moved to 39-22-6 on the season with a home record of 24-6-5…Alex Killorn got the Lightning on the board just 1:19 into the first period when he took a pass from Anthony Cirelli and fired a quick shot past Connor Hellebuyck that just made its way completely over the goal line for his 20th goal of the season…WPG responded and tied the game 1-1 with a Nate Schmidt shot from the point at the 10:15 mark of the first…Nino Niederreiter scored a power-play goal at the 1:01 mark of the second period to give WPG a 2-1 lead before Morgan Barron scored at the 9:04 mark to make it a 3-1 game…After an unsuccessful challenge for goaltender interference sent WPG to the power play, the Bolts got back within one with a shorthanded goal from Cirelli, firing a perfect shot over the glove of Hellebuyck with Brandon Hagel collecting the lone assist at the 10:01 mark of the second…Neither team scored a goal in the third period as WPG walked away with the 3-2 win…Andrei Vasilevskiy made 19 saves on 22 shots against.
PP: TBL – 0-3 WPG – 1-2
SOG: TBL – 35 WPG – 22
Attendance: 19,092

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
The Lightning and Devils are playing the first of three matchups this season and the first of back-to-back meetings at Prudential Center…Tampa Bay will wrap up the season series vs. NJD with the third meeting over the course of six days March 19 at AMALIE Arena…The Lightning posted a 2-1-0 record vs. NJD last season…Victor Hedman led all Bolts skaters with four points vs. NJD last season (2-2—4)…Steven Stamkos has picked up points in nine of his last 14 games at NJD (6-8—14)…Nikita Kucherov has posted a multi-point effort in four of his last six games vs. NJD (4- 7—11) and picked up points in 10 of the last 13 meetings (7-14—21)…Brayden Point has recorded points in eight of his last 10 games vs. NJD (6-12—18) and recorded a career high five-point game Oct. 30, 2018 vs. NJD (1-4— 5)…Point has five points in his seven career games at NJD (2-7—9)…Brandon Hagel has pointed in both of his two career games vs. NJD (3-1—4) and scored his only career hat trick Feb. 25, 2022 vs. NJD…Nick Paul has found the scoresheet in four of his five career games vs. NJD (2-3—5)…Pat Maroon has points in six of his last eight games vs.
NJD (3-4—7)…Corey Perry has picked up assists in four straight games at NJD (0-5—5)…Hedman is riding a sixgame point streak vs. NJD (2-5—7)… he Lightning have scored three or more goals in 10 of the last 12 matchups vs. NJD (total: 50 goals)…Tampa Bay is 5-3-2 in their last 10 road games at NJD and 6-4-0 the last 10 meetings overall…The Bolts are 38-52-8 with seven ties all-time vs. NJD, including a road record of 17-30-5 with two 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 (21-18—39) holds the franchise record for most career goals vs. NJD.

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)

  1. Steven Stamkos – 39 pts. (21-18—39, 39 GP)
  2. Nikita Kucherov – 25 pts. (8-17—25, 18 GP)
  3. Brad Richards – 22 pts. (4-18—22, 27 GP)

TONIGHT’S STORYLINES
Tampa Bay is playing the first game of a brief two-game road trip with both games set to be played vs. NJD at Prudential Center…The Bolts will play eight of their 16 games in March on the road…The Lightning are 8-6-2 against Metropolitan Division opponents and 18-14-3 against the Eastern Conference this season…Tampa Bay has held their opponent to 23 shots or fewer in each of the last three games…The Bolts have fired off 30 or more shots on goal in six of the last seven contests…The Lightning will face Ondrej Palat for the first time since he signed 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: 103
Current Injuries:
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (Lower-body injury; Day-to-day) 4 Games

TRANSACTIONS
March 4 – Recalled D Darren Raddysh from AHL Syracuse
March 3 – Re-assigned D Darren Raddysh to AHL Syracuse
March 2 – Recalled D Darren Raddysh from AHL Syracuse
March 1 – Acquired F Michael Eyssimont from San Jose in exchange for F Vladislav Namestnikov

NEW JERSEY DEVILS NOTES:

Last Game:
Carolina Hurricanes 0 New Jersey Devils 3
(43-14-8 – 94 PTS) (44-16-6 – 94 PTS)
Three Stars: 1. J. Hughes 2. Jesper Bratt 3. V. Vanecek
SCORE 1
ST 2
ND 3
RD OT SO FINAL
Carolina 0 0 0 – – 0
DEVILS 2 1 0 – – 3
Goals:
CAR: SHUT OUT
NJD: J. Hughes, J. Bratt, J. Bratt
Game Summary | Event Summary

INJURIES/ILLNESS
PLAYER INJURY OUT SINCE GAMES MISSED
Jonathan Bernier – LTIR Lower-body, hip 2021-22 66
Mackenzie Blackwood I.R. Lower-body 2/21/23 10
2022-23 Total Man-Games Lost to Injury/illness: 180

DATE PLAYER ACTION
3/3/23 Curtis Lazar Acquired via trade from VAN
3/3/23 Kevin Bahl & Akira Schmid Loaned to & recalled from Utica
3/3/23 Graeme Clarke Reassigned to Utica

The Devils earned their fourth shutout for the 2022-23 campaign, after blanking Carolina by a score of 3-0 on Sunday at Prudential Center. The last time that Jersey’s team earned four shutouts in a single season was in 2019-20, while the last time the Devils recorded more than four shutouts in a single season was in 2018-19 (6). New Jersey enters Tuesday’s contest riding a three-game winning streak, which dates to March 9, at Washington (3-2, shootout win). The team’s longest winning streak this season was 13 games, which Jersey logged via Oct. 25, 2022, to Nov. 21. The 13-game winning streak tied a franchise record, which was earned in 2000-01. The Devils enter Tuesday’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. The Devils are 5-1-1 for the month of March, which ranked second in the NHL, per March 13. Vegas ranked first for this matter with a 6-1-0. Jersey’s 26 goals for in the month of March was tied with Edmonton for the second most in the NHL – behind Dallas (34), per March 13. Jersey’s power-play% ranked third in the NHL at 35.7% for the month of March, per March 13; while the team’s penalty kill ranked eighth at 90.9. The team is averaging 36.0 shots per game this month, which ranked second in the NHL behind Florida (39.6).

STAYING OUT OF THE BOX
Neither the Devils, nor Canadiens, took a penalty on Saturday, March 11. The outing marked just the second time since 1982-83 that the Devils experienced a game when neither Jersey nor the opponent took a penalty in the same game. The only other time since 1982-83 that the Devils and an opponent experienced a game when neither team took a penalty was on April 2, 2010, in a 2-1 shootout loss vs Chicago at Prudential Center. For franchise history, Saturday’s contest marked the fourth time that the franchise and an opponent did not experience taking any penalties.
The other two occasions that weren’t noted above are below:
On Feb. 21, 1978: Colorado Rockies vs Boston Bruins, 3-2, L
On March 20, 1976, Kansas City Scouts vs California Golden Seals, 2-2, T

The Devils enter Tuesday’s contest with the third fewest penalty minutes in the NHL this season (510). Vegas (495) and St. Louis (463) are the two teams that recorded fewer PIM for 2022-23. The fewest PIM that the Devils recorded in franchise history, and in a full 80/82/84 game regular season, was 656 in 2013-14, The Devils owned the second fewest PIM in 2013-14, while CAR logged the fewest with 650. Keep in mind that Tampa owns the second-most PIM in the NHL this season with 804, while Florida recorded the most (815 PIM). The Devils penalty-kill also ranked ninth in the NHL at 82.0%, per March 13.

THE SWISS CONNECTION
After Thursday night’s contest at Washington on March 9, for the first time in NHL history four Switzerland players on one team played in a game. New Jersey’s Nico Hischier, Timo Meier, Jonas Siegenthaler and goaltender Akira Schmid played in the victory.

OVERTIME/SHOOTOUT
The Devils own 10 overtime wins this season, which marks the most overtime wins in a single season for franchise history. The team earned nine overtime wins in a single season on three occasions in franchise history:
2022-32: 10-3
2015-16: 9-2
2013-14: 9-5
2008-09: 9-2
The Devils are 2-3 in games decided in a shootout this season. The team’s last shootout victory was earned on Mar. 9, at Washington in a 3-2 win.

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 tonight’s contest with a 23-12-2 record vs the Eastern Conference and a 9-7-0 record vs the Atlantic Division for 2022-23. The team’s 23 wins vs the East are the third most earned in the NHL, while Boston ranks first (28) and Carolina ranks second (26). The Devils hold at least a share of first place in their division, and at this point or later in the season, for the first time since finishing atop the Atlantic Division in 2010. -Stick taps, James Lipscomb, Hockey Operations Facilitator

MOST WINS FROM START OF A SEASON IN FRANCHISE HISTORY
The team’s 44 wins after 66 games played from the start of a season are the most in franchise history:
44 wins: 2022-23
43 wins: 2008-09
40 wins: 2006-07
40 wins: 1997-98
40 wins: 2009-10
38 wins: 1999-00
38 wins: 2002-03
Jersey’s team is 40-6-5 when scoring three or more goals in a game this season (excludes shootout). The most wins that the Devils earned in franchise history when scoring three-or-more goals in a game for a single season was 43 wins, which was earned in 2000-01. As of Mar. 13, New Jersey’s 40 wins for this matter ranked second in the NHL, while Boston ranked first with 48 wins. Tampa and Carolina ranked tied for third with 38 wins when scoring three, or more, goals in a game this season.

SINCE THE NEW YEAR
The Devils enter Tuesdays contest with an 21-5-4 record since January 1, 2023. Per March 13, New Jersey’s record with 46 PTS since that time ranked second in the NHL, while Boston ranked first (22-6-1=45 PTS). Four different Devils skaters earned a 60-point season for 2022-23, which is tied with Edmonton, Toronto and Buffalo for the most skaters on one team with 60, or more, points.

COMEBACK KIDS
Jersey’s team owns 22 comeback victories this season, while the most comeback wins earned in franchise history is 23, which was earned in 2017-18. New Jersey’s 22 comeback wins lead the NHL for 2022-23, while Toronto ranks second with 20, per Mar. 13. The Devils and Chicago rank first in the NHL with seven multi-goal comeback victories for the 2022-23 campaign. Jersey’s team has not recorded a 3-goal comeback win this season.

GOALS BY PERIOD
PERIOD GOALS FOR/AGAINST DIFFERENTIAL
1 57-52 +5
2 86-69 +17
3 80-50 +30
OT 10-3 +7
TOTAL 233-174 +59
Per March 13, NJ’s +59 goal differential ranked second in the NHL behind BOS (+104). Dallas ranked third at +51. New Jersey’s franchise record is a +100 goal differential, which was earned in 2000-01.

BACK-TO-BACK GAMES
Overall: 12-5-1
First game: 5-3-1 | home: 0-1-0 | road: 5-2-1
Second game: 7-2-0 | home: 3-2-0 | road: 4-0-0

VS TAMPA
The Devils host Tampa for the first time this season and for consecutive meetings. The two foes also meet on Thursday at Prudential Center and then conclude their 2022-23 regular-season series on Sunday night in Tampa. The last time that the Devils won a season series vs Tampa was 2017-18 (3-0-0), which also marked the last time that the Devils defeated Tampa twice at home in a season.

ALL-TIME vs THE BOLTS
Record: 60-31-7-7
Home: 35-14-2-3
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 .
Thu. Mar. 16, vs TBL, 7:00 P.M.
Sat. Mar. 18, at FLA, 5:00 P.M.
Sun. Mar. 19, at TBL, 7:00 P.M.
Tue. Mar. 21, vs MIN, 7:00 P.M.
Fri. Mar. 24, at BUF, 7:00 P.M.Tampa Bay Lightning (39-22-6) at New Jersey Devils (44-16-6)

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