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Entering Wednesday night the Tampa Bay Lightning held a 2-1 series lead over the New Jersey Devils and after leading most of the game, 2-1, it was only fitting that Nikita Kucherov’s empty net goal at 18:52 of the third period reflected what the game and the series would be— 3-1, in favor of Tampa.
Yes, the Lightning stole Game 4 on the road at Prudential Center and the Bolts will have a chance to finish the Devils in Game 5 on home ice.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 saves on 28 shots against for a .964 save percentage in the win, while New Jersey’s Cory Schneider had 34 saves on 36 shots faced for a .944 SV% in the loss.
It didn’t take long for the first penalty of the game to be called. In fact, it only took 34 seconds. Taylor Hall was sent to the penalty box with a minor penalty for hooking Tampa Bay’s Brayden Point. The Lightning did not convert on the ensuing power play and the Devils made the kill without their best player on the ice.
Alex Killorn got his name on the event sheet as a result of hooking New Jersey forward, Marcus Johansson, 7:47 into the first period providing the Devils with their first power play of the night. Cedric Paquette made his way to the sin bin shortly thereafter for tripping Hall and gave New Jersey a 5-on-3 power play at 8:12.
It only took 11 seconds for the Devils to convert on the two-man advantage.
Travis Zajac won a faceoff and the puck ended up working its way to Kyle Palmieri (1) who fired one past Vasilevskiy with Patrick Maroon providing a hefty screen in front of the Tampa netminder.
Will Butcher (2) and Hall (4) had the assists on Palmieri’s power play goal that made it 1-0 New Jersey.
Not long after, the Lightning responded with a goal of their own to tie the game, 1-1, at 11:30 of the first period.
J.T. Miller (1) rushed on a breakout and sent a pass to Steven Stamkos who dropped it back to Kucherov. With Miller heading for the goal, Kucherov lobbed the puck to his linemate and Miller sent a shot high and past Schneider’s blocker side.
Kucherov (5) and Stamkos (4) notched the assists on the goal and Tampa surged in momentum.
Cory Conacher thought he had his first goal of the postseason when he beat Schneider cleanly on the glove side, but Devils head coach, John Hynes, challenged the call on the ice and the refs reviewed the play entering the zone for offside.
After review, the ruling on the ice was reversed and the score remained tied, 1-1. Hynes’s coach’s challenge was successful.
But the Lightning had already got the ball rolling on a momentum swing and nonetheless, capitalized on their next great scoring chance as Kucherov (3) sent a shot past Schneider’s glove side to put the Bolts ahead for the first time in the game, 2-1. Braydon Coburn (1) and Miller (2) had the primary and secondary assists, respectively.
Late in the first period, Kucherov was the topic of controversy as he caught Sami Vatanen without the puck in what some may view as a shoulder-to-shoulder check, while Devils fans may see otherwise. There was no penalty called on the play and Hynes was irate behind New Jersey’s bench as Vatanen skated off the ice and left the game with an upper body injury.
It’s hard to tell via replay whether or not Vatanen’s head is the point of contact at all, but regardless of whether or not it was the principal point of contact— given the precedent set this postseason by Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty’s one-game suspension for his hit on Vegas Golden Knights forward, William Carrier— Kucherov should expect something from the league.
Once the blood got boiling as a result of Kucherov’s hit, both teams were riled up the rest of the night.
Lightning forward, Alex Killorn, hit New Jersey defender, Ben Lovejoy, from behind and was assessed a minor penalty for boarding at 16:49 of the first period. As a result of the blatant hit to the numbers, a scrum ensued prior to Killorn’s exit from the ice to the penalty box.
This scrum mentality continued a couple of minutes later when a stoppage in play resulted in every player squaring off with an opponent. New Jersey’s Miles Wood and Blake Coleman, as well as, Tampa’s Anton Stralman, were given roughing minors and the Lightning ended up on the power play with less than a minute to go in the first period.
After 20 minutes of play, the Lightning led the Devils, 2-1, on the scoreboard while New Jersey led, 13-12, in shots on goal. New Jersey had a slight edge in blocked shots (2-1) and hits (9-6) and was 1/3 on the power play through the end of the first period. Tampa was 0/2 on the man advantage.
Midway through the second period, Hall tripped up Stralman and the Bolts went back on the power play until Kucherov’s ensuing holding minor penalty ended the run of 5-on-4 hockey at 11:28. Less than 20 seconds of 4-on-4 hockey occurred and Hall was released from the box, giving New Jersey a shorter than usual power play.
Brayden Point followed up with the next penalty in the game after he bumped into Schneider and got sent to the sin bin for goaltender interference about three minutes later.
Finally, Stefan Noesen got his name on the event sheet for high-sticking Point at 18:38 of the second period.
Through 40 minutes of play, the score remained 2-1, Tampa. The Lightning led in shots on goal (24-18) and blocked shots (7-6), while the Devils led in hits (18-12), takeaways (8-7), giveaways (8-5) and faceoff win percentage (63-38). The Bolts were 0/4 with the man advantage and the Devils were 1/5 on the power play.
Miller slashed Hall at 7:18 of the third period. New Jersey didn’t get anything going on the power play.
Andy Greene tripped Stamkos at 12:52 of the third period. Once again, the Lightning didn’t get anything going with their special teams.
Finally, with Schneider pulled for an extra skater, Tampa put away the game with an empty net goal courtesy of Kucherov (4) at 18:52. Miller (3) had the only assist on the goal that put the Bolts up 3-1 in the game and in the series.
Tampa finished the night leading in shots on goal (37-28), but the Devils led in just about every other stat— hits (25-19), giveaways (11-5), faceoff win% (59-41) and even had a power play goal (1/6 on the night). The Lightning didn’t bring the thunder on any of their power play opportunities and finished the night 0/5.
Game 5 is scheduled for Saturday afternoon at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. Puck drop is expected to be a shortly after 3 p.m. ET and viewers in the United States can tune in on NBC/NBCSN (check your local listings, because it appears they’re going to do what they did when New Jersey and Tampa were playing at the same time as Colorado and Nashville about a week ago). Fans in Canada can tune in on SN360 or TVAS2.
By: Nick Lanciani
I finally got a chance to get around to recapping all of the trades made today at the deadline, so I present to you my hard work. This post will be updated throughout the day. What is known is shown.
The Boston Bruins started the day off with the acquisition of F Brett Connolly (who is a pending restricted free agent) from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for a 2015 2nd round pick and a 2016 2nd round pick.
The Tampa Bay Lightning then made a move to get D Braydon Coburn and sent D Radko Gudas, a 2015 1st round pick, and a 2015 3rd round pick to the Philadelphia Flyers.
In the third move of the day, the Montreal Canadiens acquired D Jeff Petry from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for a 2015 2nd round pick and a 2015 conditional 5th round pick. If Montreal wins in the first round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs, then the pick becomes a 4th round pick. If Montreal advances to the Eastern Conference Finals, then the pick becomes a 3rd round pick.
Montreal then made their second move at the deadline, as the Canadiens sent a 2016 5th round pick to the Buffalo Sabres for F Brian Flynn.
The St. Louis Blues acquired D Zbynek Michalek and a 2015 conditional 3rd round pick from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for Maxim Letunov.
Chicago Blackhawks F Ben Smith was traded to the San Jose Sharks for F Andrew Desjardins. San Jose retained 50% of Desjardins’s salary on his current contract (he’s a pending unrestricted free agent).
New Jersey Devils D Marek Zidlicky was sent to the Detroit Red Wings for a 3rd round draft pick. New Jersey retained $1 million of Zidlicky’s salary.
The San Jose Sharks traded F Tyler Kennedy to the New York Islanders for a 2016 conditional 3rd round pick.
San Jose sent F Freddie Hamilton to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for D Karl Stollery.
The Pittsburgh Penguins traded D Robert Bortuzzo and a 2016 7th round pick to the St. Louis Blues for D Ian Cole.
The New York Islanders sent backup goalie G Chad Johnson and a 2016 3rd round draft pick to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for G Michal Neuvirth.
In their second move of the day, the New York Islanders sent F Cory Conacher to the Vancouver Canucks in a swap for F Dustin Jeffrey.
The Columbus Blue Jackets traded D Jordan Leopold to the Minnesota Wild for D Justin Falk and a 5th round pick.
Toronto Maple Leafs F Olli Jokinen was traded to the St. Louis Blues for F Joakim Lindstrom and a 2016 conditional 6th round pick. The draft pick can become a 4th round pick in 2015 if the Blues reach the Stanley Cup Finals and Jokinen plays a role in it.
Buffalo Sabres F Torrey Mitchell was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for F Jack Nevins and a 2016 7th round pick. Buffalo retains 50% of Mitchell’s salary.
D Ben Lovejoy returned to the Pittsburgh Penguins in a deal with the Anaheim Ducks that sent D Simon Despres to Anaheim.
The Minnesota Wild kept their friendship going with the Sabres and acquired F Chris Stewart from Buffalo in exchange for a 2017 2nd round pick. The Sabres retained 50% of Stewart’s contract (so $2.1 million if you’re curious).
F Sven Baertschi has been traded from the Calgary Flames to the Vancouver Canucks for a 2015 2nd round pick.
The Columbus Blue Jackets traded D James Wisniewski and a 2015 3rd round pick (DET) to the Anaheim Ducks and got F William Karlsson, F Rene Bourque, and a 2015 2nd round pick in return.
The Arizona Coyotes acquired G David Leggio from the New York Islanders in exchange for D Mark Louis.
The Boston Bruins sent F Jordan Caron and a 2016 6th round pick to the Colorado Avalanche for F Max Talbot and F Paul Carey. The Avalanche will retain half of Talbot’s salary.
Toronto Maple Leafs D Korbinian Holzer was traded to the Anaheim Ducks for D Eric Brewer and a 2016 5th round pick.
Anaheim also acquired F Michael Sgarbossa from the Colorado Avalanche for D Mat Clark.
F Jared Knight of the Boston Bruins was traded to the Minnesota Wild for F Zack Phillips.
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