The Devils took advantage of another late start by the Lightning in wrapping a fruitful homestand.
Adam Henrique and Damon Severson set each other up for first-period goals and the Devils beat Tampa Bay 3-1 on Saturday night at Prudential Center, ending a five-game losing streak against the Lightning.
Cory Schneider had 32 saves following a rare night off and Devante Smith-Pelly got his first goal of the season, helping New Jersey rebound from an overtime loss to Chicago on Friday. Henrique scored his 100th career goal and the Devils finished their homestand 3-0-1.
“One-hundred goals, it’s great,” Henrique said. “If you told me that years ago that I would have been there one day, who knows if I would have believed you or not, but it was nice to get that one.”
The Devils finally made an early lead stand up. Coming into the game, they were 0-2-1 when scoring first, including a 3-2 loss Friday.
“In years past, don’t know if we win this game or not,” Schneider said. “So it shows signs of some growth and some new faces and young guys in the lineup who will go through struggles, but they seem ahead of the curve here and learning quickly and that’s great for our team.”
The Devils, 4-0-1 at home this season, hadn’t beaten Tampa Bay since Dec. 19, 2014, when they won 3-2 in a shootout.
“We knew this team,” Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. “I don’t think they have lost a game at home. We knew that going in and we still didn’t start the game right.”