The New Jersey Devils collected two points Saturday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning in overtime.
Ondrej Palat, who has found his offensive side lately, opened up the scoring against his former team in the first period. The lead did not last long as Tampa’s captain, Victor Hedman, tied the game just a minute later.
Jack Hughes continued his hot offensive play as he scored his 17th of the season to put the Devils up 2-1 in the second period. Hughes was the only player to find the back of the net in the second frame.
Tampa’s Nikita Kucherov tied the game with less than ten minutes left in the third period, but the Devils did not give up.
Tampa Bay and New Jersey found themselves in overtime, where the Devils have been anything but successful. This was not the case during this game though as the Devils got a fortunate power play opportunity and got to work. Stefan Noesen found the puck in the front of the net and buried it past Andrei Vasilevskiy, giving the Devils the win.
Jacob Markstrom continued to be the goaltender the Devils have spent years searching for. He had another strong night in net, finishing the game with a .920 save percentage and more highlight-reel worthy saves.
Hughes continues to be the shining star the Devils need. Hughes ended the night with one goal and one assist, hitting 52 points this season. He leads the Devils with Jesper Bratt right behind him at 51 points.
The Devils impressive penalty kill continues to be one of the best in the league as they killed all three chances given to Tampa Bay. The power play went 1-for-2 on the night.
Despite the win, the Devils lack of offensive depth continues to show and will have to be acknowledged in the near future.
The Devils have a rough string of games coming up after an underwhelming road trip and an overtime loss to their rivals. Being back in the win column is the perfect way to get the team’s minds back in the right place.
The Devils will take on the Florida Panthers Tuesday, Jan. 14 at 7:30 p.m. ET in front of home fans. The Devils have now won six straight games on home ice and will look to continue to build off this win and grab more points.
