Yegor Sharangovich’s second goal highlighted the New Jersey Devils’ third-period rally as they beat the host Tampa Bay 5-3 on Saturday, snapping the Lightning’s nine-game point streak.
Sharangovich’s second goal — a sharp-angle shot at 9:34 of the third — gave the Devils their first lead at 4-3.
He also scored in the first and added an assist, and Dawson Mercer and Jimmy Vesey tallied. Tomas Tatar clinched the win with an empty-net goal.
Jonas Siegenthaler dished out two assists for the Devils, who are 4-2-1 in their last seven games.
In his first career start against the Lightning, New Jersey goalie Mackenzie Blackwood made 31 saves on 34 shots and stopped a crucial two-on-zero breakaway in the third.
The victory was the Devils’ first in Tampa since a 4-3 win on Feb. 17, 2018.
Jan Rutta posted a goal and an assist, and Pat Maroon and Victor Hedman scored for Tampa Bay, which — in addition to having its point streak broken — lost for the first time in four games.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 22 saves and lost in regulation for the first time in 10 starts (6-1-3).
The Lightning had New Jersey chasing from the drop of the puck, and Rutta skated in from above the right circle and wristed in his second goal — unassisted — at 5:49.
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A combined 33-goal scorer last season while playing in the KHL and NHL, Sharangovich took a pass from Alexander Holtz and beat Vasilevskiy on the stick side for his first marker at 13:56.
On their third power play of the frame, Maroon netted his third goal after finding a clean rebound in front of the blue paint for the Lightning’s second lead.
Just over six minutes into the second, Hedman received a sharp cross-ice pass from rookie Boris Katchouk and fired in his third goal for a 3-1 lead.
In the third, Mercer made it 3-2 by tucking in a backhander past Vasilevskiy on a strong rush down the right side 72 seconds in.
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Blackwood made a spectacular save on Alex Killorn on a two-on-zero break at 3:59, and Vesey tied it at 3 by roofing a backhander on a breakaway less than two minutes later.
Thirty-two seconds after Sharangovich’s go-ahead goal, Tampa Bay’s Brayden Point attempted his first career penalty shot but rang the attempt off the iron.
The Devils killed off Dougie Hamilton’s tripping inside the last five minutes, and Tatar soon scored.
–Field Level Media