NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Nick Paul, Darren Raddysh and Pontus Holmberg each scored in the first eight minutes to chase down Jacob Markstrom and the injury-depleted Tampa Bay Lightning beat the New Jersey Devils 8-4 on Thursday night.
The Lightning are coming off back-to-back wins after a four-game skid that culminated in back-to-back shutouts. Oliver Bjorkstrand scored two goals, Jake Guentzel, Brandon Hagel and Brayden Point each scored one and Nikita Kucherov had four assists as Tampa Bay combined for 14 goals in the two wins.
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Jonas Johansson made 33 saves in his fifth straight start in place of injured No. 1 goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, who will miss at least two more games. Captain Victor Hedman joined Vasilevskiy and fellow defensemen Ryan McDonagh and Erik Cernak on injured reserve earlier Thursday after exacerbation of an unknown disease earlier this week.
After coach John Cooper praised his team's all-around shorthanded play other than to say, “We just couldn't score,” the Lightning went on offense against Markstrom, who lasted just seven shots before being benched in favor of backup Jake Allen. Paul and Raddysh scored 51 seconds apart, and then Holmberg's weak backhander to Sheldon Keefe was enough to pull Markstrom for a game-related reason for the first time this season.
Markstrom's save percentage dropped to .875, which ranks 55th out of 59 goalies who have played in at least nine games. Allen allowed five goals on 28 shots. Luke Hughes, Jesper Bratt, Angus Cruikshank and Paul Cotter scored for New Jersey, which has lost six of its last seven matches and nine of 14 since taking center stage. Jack Hughes undergoes finger surgery.
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Xavier Parent made his NHL debut for the Devils. Parent was invited to replace Timo Meier, who takes a vacation address the issue of family health.
Next
Lightning: Visit the New York Islanders on Saturday.
Devils: Host Anaheim on Saturday.
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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
