Lightning Dominate Early and Often, Cruising to an 8-4 Win Past Slumping Devils

Published: Thursday, December 11, 2025

by Ryan Nelke

NEWARK, N.J. - The New Jersey Devils (17-13-1) put forth a forgetful effort as they fell 8-4 to the Tampa Bay Lightning (18-11-2) on Thursday night at the Prudential Center.

From the jump, it was pretty evident that it was not going to be a good night for Devils goaltender Jacob Markstrom.  Just three minutes into the contest, Tampa Bay’s Nick Paul beat Markstrom from the edge of the circle to put the Lightning up 1-0.  Less than a minute later, Darren Raddysh added onto the lead with a shot from the point.

With the Devils entering this game losing eight of their last twelve, the crowd was growing restless already as those were two shots that Markstrom should have been able to stop.

Luke Hughes was able to cut into the deficit at exactly the 13 minute mark, as he sniped one under the blocker of Tampa Bay netminder Jonas Johansson, with Brenden Dillon and Paul Cotter tallying the assists.

This excitement did not last long, as the Lightning responded immediately, with Pontus Holmberg squeaking a weak backhand shot by Markstrom 56 seconds later.  This was another shot that Markstrom could have stopped, and this time, Coach Sheldon Keefe had seen enough, as he pulled him from the game, with Jake Allen coming on in relief.

This change did not keep Tampa Bay from continuing to score, as with five minutes left in the first frame, Jake Guentzel capitalized off a rebound in front of the net, a shot which Allen had no chance at saving.  Guentzel’s goal marked Tampa’s fourth of the period, putting them up 4-1.

Emotions began to boil over for New Jersey, and Brendan Dillon took it out on Tampa’s Scott Sabourin, when they dropped the mitts in the Devils defensive zone.  Dillon got the better of Sabourin, and both went to the box for five minutes on fighting majors.

There were countless boos throughout the period, and the boo birds were out once again as the Devils left the ice for the first intermission down 4-1.

The beginning of the middle period did not bring along better fortune for New Jersey, as Oliver Bjorkstrand added to the lead for Tampa six minutes in, beating Allen up close in front of the net.

New Jersey got their second powerplay opportunity with about seven and a half minutes left to go in the second, and they finally caught a break when Jesper Bratt split the defense and got free on a breakaway, finishing with a nice move and getting the puck past Johansson.  This goal broke Bratt’s 16-game goal drought, and cut the Lightning lead to 5-2.

Once again though, Tampa Bay had an immediate response as Brandon Hagel scored on a delayed penalty, bringing the lead back to four at 6-2.

As the horn for the end of the period went off, New Jersey skated off to ice to more boos, as they trailed 6-2.

In the third, it was the Devils who struck first, as Angus Crookshank found good positioning at the side of the net and tapped home a nice pass from Colton White on the delayed penalty, with Simon Nemec getting credit for the secondary assist.

To no surprise, the Lightning had an answer, as after Nikita Kucherov managed to keep the puck in the Devils defensive zone through good stick work, the puck would eventually find Brayden Point’s stick while Allen found himself out of position, leaving the net wide open for Point to easily score.

Late in the third, with the teams playing 4-on-4 action, Paul Cotter found an opening down the right side of the ice, and tallied New Jersey’s fourth goal of the night on the breakaway.  As expected, Tampa Bay had an immediate response 29 seconds later, with Bjorkstrand scoring his second of the game on the leftover powerplay time to make it 8-4.

New Jersey could not get any momentum going the entire night, as for the four goals the Devils scored, the Lightning scored the ensuing goal in less than 4:50 every single time.  It was also a night to forget for the netminders, as Markstrom allowed three goals on seven shots, while Allen allowed five goals on 28 shots.

The Devils will be back in action early Saturday afternoon to host the Anaheim Ducks, with puck drop set for 12:30 p.m.

Ryan Nelke is an Assistant Sports Director and can be reached at nelkerya@shu.edu.

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