New Jersey Devils at Tampa Bay Lightning
· National Hockey League
Connor Brown scores 2 goals as Devils beat Lightning 5-3 for 1st win
Jesper Bratt also scored, and rookie Arseny Gritsyuk and Luke Hughes each had two assists for the Devils. Jacob Markstrom finished with 14 saves.
Darren Raddysh, Yanni Gourde and Ryan McDonagh scored for Tampa Bay, which has started 0-2 for the first time under coach Jon Cooper and the first time since 2008-09. Andrei Vasilevskiy had 22 saves.
Meier, Brown and Hischier scored 5:18 apart midway through the first period to put the Devils up 3-0. Gourde and McDonagh scored 10 minutes apart in the second to pull the Lightning within one.
With the Lightning on a power play early in the third, Bratt stepped in front of Nikita Kucherov's pass and raced up ice to convert a short-handed breakaway and give New Jersey a 4-2 lead at 4:48.
Brown got his second of the night 1:39 later for a three-goal lead.
Meier got things rolling for the Devils 8:30 into the game, jumping on a loose puck in the blue paint. Brown sccored off the rush at 10:17, deflecting a pass from Gritsyuk. Hischier banked a pass off the skate of Lightning defenseman Max Crozier with 7:12 to go for the 3-0 lead.
Gourde got the Lightning on the scoreboard at 7:31 of the second and McDonagh made it 3-2 with 2:37 remaining in the middle period.
Lightning: at Boston on Monday.
Regular Season SeriesNJ leads series 1-0
Scoring Summary
 |
Goal | 1st Period 8:30 | Timo Meier Goal (1) Poke, assists: Nico Hischier (1), Dawson Mercer (1) |
|
Goal | 1st Period 10:17 | Connor Brown Goal (1) Tip-In, assists: Arseny Gritsyuk (1), Luke Hughes (3) |
|
Goal | 1st Period 13:48 | Nico Hischier Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Timo Meier (1), Luke Hughes (4) |
 |
Goal | 2nd Period 7:31 | Yanni Gourde Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Brayden Point (3), Max Crozier (1) |
|
Goal | 2nd Period 17:23 | Ryan McDonagh Goal (1) Slap Shot, assists: Brandon Hagel (1), Max Crozier (2) |
|
Goal | 3rd Period 4:48 | Jesper Bratt Goal (2) Wrist Shot, assists: none |
|
Goal | 3rd Period 6:29 | Connor Brown Goal (2) Wrist Shot, assists: Arseny Gritsyuk (2), Simon Nemec (1) |
|
Goal | 3rd Period 16:17 | Darren Raddysh Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Oliver Bjorkstrand (1), Gage Goncalves (1) |
Statistics
 NJ |
 TB |
|
|---|---|---|
| 24 | Blocked Shots | 17 |
| 27 | Hits | 25 |
| 6 | Takeaways | 3 |
| 31 | Shots | 17 |
| 0 | Power Play Goals | 0 |
| 4 | Power Play Opportunities | 3 |
| 0.0 | Power Play Percentage | 0.0 |
| 1 | Short Handed Goals | 0 |
| 0 | Shootout Goals | 0 |
| 34 | Faceoffs Won | 25 |
| 57.6 | Faceoff Win Percent | 42.4 |
| 14 | Giveaways | 16 |
| 3 | Total Penalties | 4 |
| 6 | Penalty Minutes | 8 |
Tampa Bay Lightning Injuries
| NAME, POS | STATUS | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| Zemgus Girgensons, C | Injured Reserve | Oct 21 |
| Scott Sabourin, RW | Suspension | Oct 19 |
| Niko Huuhtanen, RW | Injured Reserve | Oct 6 |
| Nick Paul, LW | Injured Reserve | Oct 6 |
New Jersey Devils Injuries
| NAME, POS | STATUS | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| Stefan Noesen, RW | Injured Reserve | Oct 20 |
| Jacob Markstrom, G | Out | Oct 15 |
| Zack MacEwen, RW | Injured Reserve | Oct 15 |
| Johnathan Kovacevic, D | Injured Reserve | Oct 12 |
| Evgenii Dadonov, RW | Injured Reserve | Oct 12 |
Game Information
Benchmark International Arena
Location: Tampa, FL
Attendance: 19,092 | Capacity:
Location: Tampa, FL
Attendance: 19,092 | Capacity:
2025-26 Metropolitan Division Standings
| TEAM | W | L | PTS | OTL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 New Jersey |
0 | 1 | 10 | 5 |
 Carolina |
0 | 1 | 10 | 5 |
 Pittsburgh |
0 | 2 | 10 | 5 |
 Washington |
0 | 2 | 10 | 5 |
 Philadelphia |
1 | 2 | 7 | 3 |
 NY Rangers |
1 | 4 | 7 | 3 |
 Columbus |
0 | 3 | 6 | 3 |
 NY Islanders |
0 | 3 | 6 | 3 |
