Lightning Hang Eight Goals on Devils in Victory

The 2024-25 NHL season is young, but the Tampa Bay Lighting are already banging in the goals.

In a wild game in New Jersey on Tuesday night, the Lightning destroyed the Devils 8-5.

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The last time New Jersey allowed that many goals at home was 1992.

Getting Forward

Several players got a piece of the action for the Bolts. The star of the show was winger Brandon Hagel, whose hat trick helped Tampa Bay (4-2-0) accelerate away from New Jersey (5-3-1).

Down 2-1 in the second period, the Bolts blasted in five straight goals to take a commanding 6-2 lead, three of which were Hagel’s. Those five goals came from just 13 shots.

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The Lightning defensemen also made things happen up the ice.

Braden Point scored Tampa’s opening goal on a rebound that he squeezed under Devils goalkeeper Jake Allen’s arm. Victor Hedman added two goals of his own: a banging wrist shot from a tight angle and a strong slap shot from distance. Janis Moser bagged a goal and two assists.

Although it was a quiet night by star winger Nikita Kucherov’s standards, he still snatched an assist. The NHL’s leading goal scorer with 7, Kucherov posted three shots.

Defense and Goaltending Issues

The Devils struggled to keep Tampa Bay away for the majority of the game.

While the Bolts blocked 20 shots, the Devils managed just 9 blocks, making life extremely difficult for Allen.

A few goals in the game were shots that took deflections but stayed on target. Hagel’s first goal was a long-range effort that bounced off the back of Devils defender Brenden Dillon, causing Allen to lose track of the puck.

Hedman’s second goal was similar – a long shot through traffic that Allen failed to stop.

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The disarray in the Devils’ defense was a combination of defenders being too late to challenge shots and Allen reacting too late to the puck’s deflections. Improving that will likely be a top priority for New Jersey going forward.

Tampa Bay could have been better defensively as well, but the 20 blocked shots is certainly an encouraging stat.

Up Next

The Lightning host the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night at 7. Also at that time Thursday, the Devils will be in Detroit to take on the Red Wings.