The Devils took an unfortunate loss after they defeated the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday. Tyler Toffoli scored the lone goal in the 4-1 loss, the goal being his 25th of the season. Nikita Kucherov recorded his 100th point of the season, the first player this season to reach 100. The Tampa Bay Lightning won their second game straight since breaking their three-game losing streak.
Lightning lineup against the Devils:
Hagel - Point - Kucherov
Eyssimont - Cirelli - Chaffee
Stamkos - Paul - Sheary
Glendening - Motte
Hedman - Raddysh
de Haan - Cernak
Lilleberg - Perbix
Crozier
Johansson
Devils lineup against Lightning:
Meier - Hischier - Bratt
Toffoli - Hughes - Mercer
Palat - Haula - Lazar
Holtz - Nosek - Halonen
Siegenthaler - Marino
Bahl - Nemec
Hughes - Miller
Schmid
Daws
The first period remained completely scoreless.
Early into the second period at 18:33, Victor Hedman started the scoring and gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead. He scored from the bottom of the left face-off circle and recorded his 10th goal of the season. Getting his 30th and extending Lightning's lead to 2-0, Brayden Point stuffed the puck inside the right post off Arika Schmid's skate. Tyler Toffoli struck his 25th of the season, cutting it at 2-1 at 13:59 on the power play. Toffoli shot from the bottom of the left circle and extended his point streak to six games (three goals, four assists). The score remained 2-1 through the rest of the period.
Brandon Hagel pushed it to 3-1 at 10:22 of the third period, extending his 13-game point streak (20 points; nine goals, 11 assists). Hagel nudged a loose puck past Arika Schmid. Later into the final frame at 1:35, Nikita Kucherov scored an empty-netter for the 4-1 final.
Tyler Toffoli on the second period, frustration, and how the team played overall: "I think it obviously got away from us. They had some good opportunities, went up two-nothing, and obviously, we were chasing it ever since... They play well defensively - They know what to do and how to win games. Obviously, they did a better job of playing the game today than we did," - "We have to do a better job of recovering pucks and just keep getting after it... They're a team that has won and been through it. So they know how to win. We struggled with that tonight and couldn't find a way."
Brian Halonen on playing in his first NHL game: "It was very special skating out there for the warm-ups and kind of take it in. Once the game starts, you just try to calm the nerves and do whatever you can to try to play your game, what got you here, and just try to keep it simple."
Notes:
- Brian Halonen played in his first NHL game
- Both Jack and Luke Hughes assisted on Tyler Toffoli's goal.
- Arika Schmid made 23 saves for New Jersey and Jonas Johansson made 18 saves for Tampa Bay.
- Nikita Kucherov had a goal and recorded three assists... Brandon Hagel had a goal and recorded two assists. Both Brayden Point and Victor Hedman had a goal and an assist.
Kucherov got to 100 points this season, being the only player this NHL season with 100. He required the fewest games in Tampa Bay Lightning history to reach the mark (59 games... 102 points; 38 goals, 64 assists). He held the previous record of 62 games, set in 2018-19.
He is also one of the only nine players in NHL history to achieve a 100-point season more than once. Nikita Kucherov had his fifth four-point goal this season, all coming while on the road. This is the second time in his NHL career that he's had five in one season on the road, 2018-19. The four other players who have achieved the feat multiple times are, Wayne Gretzky (seven), Mario Lemieux (four), Steve Yzerman (two), and Peter Stastny (two).
*All photos used by the New Jersey Devils used with permission*
Comments
Post a Comment