TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Brayden Point had two goals and an assist to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 5-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Sunday.
Tyler Johnson, Cedric Paquette and Alex Killorn also scored for the Lightning, who have won three straight games and five of six. Tampa Bay has the best record in the Eastern Conference at 17-6-1. Louis Domingue made 33 saves.
Stefan Noesen and Jesper Bratt scored for the Devils. New Jersey goaltender Cory Schneider finished with 30 saves and remains winless (0-15-2) since Dec. 27, 2017, a span of 18 regular-season games. The Devils fell to 2-9 in road games.
Tampa Bay has outscored the Devils 13-5 in two meetings this season.
The Lightning overwhelmed the Devils to start the game, scoring three times in the opening 10 minutes as Killorn, Point and Johnson scored in the span of 5 minutes, 54 seconds.
New Jersey cut the deficit to 3-1 on Noesen's rebound goal at 9:39, but Paquette regained the three-goal advantage, scoring on a rebound at 11:25 for his fourth goal of the season.
Point was credited with his second of the game and 17th of the season at 8:30 of the second period when Devils' defenseman Sami Vatanen put a clearing attempt into his own net.
NOTES: Tampa Bay C Steven Stamkos left the game late in the second after a hit from D Andy Greene, but returned to start the third. . Lightning D Anton Stralman (upper body), who missed his eighth consecutive game, was being re-evaluated, according to head coach Jon Cooper. In addition, Cooper said LW Ondrej Palat could return as early as Tuesday. Palat has been out since Oct. 27 with a lower-body injury. . New Jersey C Nico Hischier, the No. 1 overall pick in 2017, appeared in his 100th career game. . Devils D Steve Santini (broken jaw) is expected to join the team in Florida on Monday after completing a rehab stint with Binghamton in the American Hockey League.
UP NEXT
Devils: At Florida Panthers on Monday.
Lightning: Host Anaheim on Tuesday.
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