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Round One, Game Three: Now We Have a Series! Devils Defeat Lightning 5-2

Cory Schneider was back in net for the Devils. He turned aside 34 of 36 Tampa Bay Lightning shots. Photo: Ed Mulholland/USA TODAY Sports

Playoff hockey is back, ladies and gentlemen! In the Devils’ first playoff game at The Rock since June 9, 2012 (game five of the Stanley Cup Final versus the Kings), they scraped and clawed back into the series with a 5-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Devils were back in New Jersey with a new look to their lineup. For one thing, Marcus Johansson was in, playing in his first game since the January 23 game at Boston when Brad Marchand cheap-shotted him as he was cutting to the net. That hit cost him the rest of the regular season and two playoff games, but number 90 was in the lineup tonight. He was playing in his first playoff game with the Devils, his first since he was with Washington last season. Johansson played on a line with Pavel Zacha and Patrick Maroon.

Joining him as changes to the lineup were Drew Stafford (playing on a line with Miles Wood and Brian Boyle), slotting back in up front as the Devils went back to 12 forwards and six defensemen, and Cory Schnedier. Cory was starting his first playoff game as a New Jersey Devil. We know all about the drought – he had not won a game since December 27, 2017 versus Detroit – and that this was his first playoff start since a May 7, 2013 loss to San Jose as a Vancouver Canuck.

But he played a fantastic game tonight. He would nearly have to leave the game just before the Devils took the lead later in the third period after he stretched his leg out to make a save and then had a Tampa player bump into his outstretched left leg. With his history of hip and groin injuries, the Prudential Center held its collective breath. But he would fight through the pain and continue on. He ended up making 34 saves on 36 Tampa shots.

Going for Tampa was Andrei Vasilevskiy again. He stopped 36 of 39 Devils shots. The Devils added two empty net goals and so finished the game with 41 total shots on goal.

The Devils had a crowded press box with newly-signed Joey Anderson, Christoph Bertschy, Jesper Bratt, Brian Gibbons, Michael Grabner, Jimmy Hayes, Michael Kapla, Eddie Lack, Nick Lappin, Michael McLeod, Mirco Mueller, Blake Pietila, Kevin Rooney, Steven Santini and Brian Strait all scratched. Binghamton did not qualify for the AHL Calder Cup Playoffs, for what it’s worth.

The game was tight through the first period, with no score going into the first intermission. What we did have was a penalty to the Devils’ Andy Greene that was called slashing officially, but what looked more like a cross check to Yanni Gourde at 19:44. In any case, the Lightning would have the majority of their power play time on fresh ice in the second period.

Their lethal power play wasted no time, scoring 42 seconds into the second frame when Alex Killorn was all alone in the slot, took a pass from Nikita Kucherov and scored his fourth of the series. Steven Stamkos had the secondary assist. The penalty kill continued to be a point of contention for the Devils, as Tampa was 2-for-5 with eight shots on goal on the man advantage. The Devils went 1-for-7 with 13 shots on net. In a game when the Devils knew they had to stay out of the penalty box, it was Tampa who still capitalized when they did get chances.

The Lightning had the 1-0 lead, but the Devils tied things up at the 12:24 mark of the second when who else, but Taylor Hall notched one unassisted. Hall skated the puck low to high and dished to Kyle Palmieri. Palmieri fired on net and the rebound came to Hall in the slot. He unleashed a shot and found the back of the net to tie things up at one. Initially, Boyle and Palmieri were given assists on the goal but the scoring was changed and it was called unassisted at 12:24.

Either way, it was great for Hall, who hit the crossbar on a partial breakaway late in the first period after beating Vasilevskiy cleanly. Bryce Salavdor of MSG joked that there was a dent in the crossbar due to how hard Hall had shot the puck there. Also, a Devils goal had been waved off midway through the second period when Blake Coleman’s shot crossed the goal line after the Tampa net came off of its moorings. Toronto reviewed the shorthanded chance, but the call on the ice stood: no goal.

Prudential Center errupted following Hall’s goal, but things were about to get a whole lot better.

But first, Tampa would take another lead. This came when Stamkos notched his first of the playoffs just 38 seconds into the third period from Kucherov and Killorn on the power play. Cory got a piece of the shot, but could not hold on to it. It was 2-1 Tampa.

Once again, the Devils had taken a penalty late in a period and paid for it early in the next. It was 2-1 Lightning, but things were about to turn up for the Devils.

It began with Will Butcher on the power play. It began at the 2:39 mark of the third when Tampa’s Cedric Paquette went off for tripping Butcher. Then, at 3:39, the Lightning took a bench minor for too many men on the ice. The Devils had about a minute or so of 5-on-3 power play time. And Butcher responded. At the 4:03 mark, he would score from Hall and Palmieri to tie things up at two.

Palmieri guided the puck back to Butcher at the point. Butcher gave to Hall at the near half wall. He gave back to Butcher, teeing him up to snipe one top shelf by Vasilevskiy. The game was now 2-2 as the Devils scored on the power play. They would not convert on the ensuing 5-on-4, but the damage was done.

And the Devils were not done. New Jersey took a 3-2 lead when Stefan Noesen scored his first of the playoffs at 12:55 from Hall and Greene. It started with Greene giving to Hall in the Devils’ zone following a delayed offside on Tampa Bay. Hall then weaved his way up ice and, once he broke into the Lightning zone, fed Noesen, who fired a one-timer by Vasilevskiy to give the Devils their first lead of the series.

Hall said during the post game that he knew Noesen had a great shot and was just looking to set him up.

Tampa would pull Vasilevskiy wtih about 1:20 left int the game and the Devils would pot two empty netters. The first came at 19:02 when Coleman scored shorthanded and unassisted to make it 4-2 (the Devils were in the middle of a huge kill and Tampa had a 6-on-4 advantage with the goaltender pulled). Ben Lovejoy then scored unassisted at 20 seconds later to make it 5-2, your final.

The game ended with Tampa on the power play as things got a bit chippy late. Tempers began to flare when Nico Hischier was speared by Victor Hedman in the groin and no call was made. This followed Coleman receiving a high hit from Mikhail Sergachev that was called. This was after the Noesen goal and the bad feelings contiued to the final whistle. In the end, Paquette (Tampa), Boyle (New Jersey), Chris Kunitz (Tampa), John Moore (New Jersey), Braydon Coburn (Tampa), Drew Stafford (New Jersey), Cory Conacher (Tampa), Damon Severson (New Jersey), Mikhail Sergachev (Tampa) and Miles Wood (New Jersey) were all assessed misconduct penalties at 19:37. The Devils’ Boyle also was called for holding, which is why the Lightning ended the game on the PP.

But that was enough. The Devils came away with the 5-2 victory and cut the series lead to 2-1 in favor of Tampa. For what it’s worth, the last time the Devils came back from a 2-0 series deficit was 1994 against the Boston Bruins in the second round.

In the end, Travis Zajac led all Devils skaters in ice time with 24:23 (7:48 of power play time and 5:02 on the PK). Sami Vatanen led all d-men in TOI with 22:42 total. Hall and Coleman tied in shots on goal with six, Coleman also led in hits with five. Zacha had two blocked shots to lead the Devils in that category and takeaways were led by Coleman with two. Coleman really imprinted himself on this game and made his mark.

Team-wise, the Devils out shot Tampa 41-36, won 55-percent of the game’s faceoffs, were out hit 34-33 and had one more blocked shot, 9-8. The three stars of the game were: Taylor Hall (first), Cory Schneider (second) and Stefan Noesen (third).

Next up, Wednesday and game four at The Rock. The Devils will look to pull even in that one and make this into a full-on series.

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Devils Down Isles to Pad Playoff Position

Taylor Hall was one of four Devils with a multi-point game versus the Islanders. He had two goals. Photo: Andy Marlin/NHLI via Getty Images

It has been almost a cliche this season to say how the Devils were not picked to be here and that they have defied expectations. But when you really look at how things are going and have gone for this team this season, it truly has been amazing.

The Devils defeated the New York Islanders tonight at Prudential Center 4-3. With the Florida Panthers falling earlier in the day to the Boston Bruins, that means that there is five points separating the two teams. The Panthers remain the only threat to the Devils and the magic number is now six. Any combination of six points gained by the Devils or lost by the Panthers will see New Jersey clinch a playoff spot for the first time since 2011-12.

We will get to the game in due time, but first, the Devils paid tribute to a longtime treasure of metro area hockey coverage both in print and television. Stan Fischler announced his retirement to come at the end of the season and the Devils paid tribute to him tonight. Former TV colleagues Mike “Doc” Emrick and Chico Resch were on the MSG+ pregame show along with Deb Placey to reminisce about Stan’s 60 years of covering hockey in the New York area.

There was even a retrospective on the Matt and the Maven segment that he and Matt Loughlin used to do on Devils’ broadcasts which featured the immortal Chuck the Duck. There was also a special presentation on the big board made to Stan in-game and he spent some time on the broadcast with Ken Daneyko and Steve Cangialosi. Good luck to the Maven in retirement and thank you for the tireless work you did for hockey in the New York metro area.

Today was also Stan’s birthday, so happy 86th birthday to him!

Now on to the game details. First, on the injury front. Marcus Johansson has been cleared for contact. He has not been cleared to play yet, but has been cleared for contact.

Roster-wise, nothing much changed from the OT loss to Pittsburgh. Jesper Bratt, Jimmy Hayes, Ben Lovejoy and Drew Stafford were the scratches.

In goal, Keith Kinkaid made the start again, making 27 stops on 30 Islander shots. Coach John Hynes has not announced a starter for the game in Montreal tomorrow (tonight was the start of the Devils’ final back-to-back of the season), but you would have to assume that Cory Schneider gets some work and Kinkaid gets a little bit of a rest going into the playoffs, should the team get there.

For the Islanders, Thomas Greiss made just his fourth start since January 14. He made 31 saves on 35 Devils shots.

Things looked bad for the Devils just 1:15 in as the Isles got on the board first. Tanner Fritz scored then from Brandon Davidson and John Tavares to give New York the 1-0 lead early. The bad news was that Kinkaid had let in a goal within the first two minutes of a game again. The good news is that when that happened, the Devils were 8-3 coming into tonight. They would be 9-3 before the end of the night.

It started at the 7:54 mark when Stefan Noesen scored from Blake Coleman and Will Butcher. Coleman sealed off an Islander behind the New York net. He took the puck to the front of the net and slid it to Noesen who was cutting towards the net. Noesen stuffed it in to make it 1-1. Things were beginning to turn. Noesen was playing in his 100th game as a New Jersey Devil tonight so congratulations to him.

Also, with the assist, Butcher took over the franchise record for assists in a season by a rookie defenseman with 38. He passed Barry Beck, who set the previous record of 37 when the team was in Colorado.

Kinkaid was shaken up by a high shot by Anthony Beauvillier to the collarbone late in the first period, but would shake it off. The Devils would lose Travis Zajac briefly late in the second, but he would return. Also, Kyle Palmieri took an errant Andy Greene stick to the face just below his right eye in the middle of the third period. He would not return and Hynes had no update on his condition in his post game presser.

The second period was a busy one for both teams. It began with Taylor Hall scoring on the power play from Butcher and Palmieri just 41 seconds into the second. Anders Lee was called for tripping at 19:11 of the first, giving the Devils 1:12 of power play time on fresh ice in the second period. Hall worked it to Butcher at the near point. Butcher gave it back to Hall along the half wall and Hall found room, then fired a pass towards a cutting Palmieri. The puck took a fortunate bounce off of the New York D-man’s skate and past Greiss. It was 2-1 Devils. Hall now has points in seven straight games.

And his magic was not done. He scored again at the 9:08 mark of the second from Noesen to make it 3-1 Devils. Noesen jarred the puck loose to Hall in the Devils zone. He then took it all the way up ice, using his speed to push the Islander defense back on their heels. Once he had gained the New York blue line, he fired from the hashmarks inside the slot, beating Greiss glove side. It was a beautiful play, as Hall winded his way up ice and just sliced through the New York defense.

The Devils now had a two goal lead, but the Isles would just not go away. At 11:22, Patrick Maroon was called for tripping and the Islanders were on the power play. Beauvillier scored when his shot was tipped by the Devils’ Brian Gibbons in front and beat Kinkaid up high. Mathew Barzal and Brock Nelson had the assists on that one.

Overall, on the power play for the night, both teams were an exact 1-for-2 with three shots.

The difference for the Devils was when Damon Severson went off for holding at 18:27. Things seemed to be going in the Isles’ favor and the momentum was shifting. But, at 18:58, Blake Coleman would score shorthanded from Mirco Mueller and Michael Grabner to make it 4-2 Devils. Mueller skated the puck out of trouble into the New York zone on a 2-on-1 with Coleman. He drew the defender towards him and then passed to Coleman, who roofed a wrister by Greiss stick side to double the Devils’ lead.

The Islanders would end the second period with 27 seconds still left on that power play and nearly gave up another shorty early in the third. Grabner skated in all alone on a breakaway, but was stopped by Greiss, who was single-handedly keeping the Islanders in the game.

The Devils would spend most of the third period in the Isles’ zone with great offensive zone pressure. They were killing the clock, but could just not solve Greiss. That would come back to bite them when, at 16:21. Chris Wagner redirected a Johnny Boychuk shot by Kinkaid to cut the Devils’ lead to 4-3. Nick Leddy had the secondary assist.

We were in for a wild finish. Greiss went to the bench with about 1:30 left in the game for the extra skater. The Devils endured about three key faceoffs deep in their zone, but were finally able to get the puck out after Noesen had a timely blocked shot.

It was a nailbiter, but the Devils got the W, with Keith Kinkaid notching his 23rd win of the season.

Stats-wise, the Devils outshot the Isles 35 to 30, won 43-percent of the game’s faceoffs, out hit the Islanders 31 to 13 and doubled them up in blocked shots with 12 to New York’s six.

Sami Vatanen once again led in time on ice by a wide margin with 27:15 – including 27 seconds on the power play and 2:18 on the PK. Hall led in shots on goal with six, Coleman led in hits with five, blocks were led by Coleman, Gibbons, Grabner, Mueller and Vatanen with two each and Hall led in takeaways with three.

In the end, four Devils had multi-point nights: Hall with two goals (although he could have had at least two more, it seemed – he was that in control of the game), Coleman with a goal and an assist, Noesen with a goal and an assist and Butcher with two assists. Hall was named the game’s first star, Butcher the second and Noesen the third.

Next up, the Devils travel up to Montreal to take on the Habs in the back end of their final back-to-back of the season tomorrow. Florida has a back-to-back beginning Monday when they take on the Hurricanes. We will have you covered here tomorrow as the Devils take on the Montreal Canadiens.

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