Lightning at Devils
Newark, NJ – The New Jersey Devils are looking to bounce back from one of their worst defensive performances of the season.
Facing a Tampa Bay Lightning club that is struggling to score could help.
New Jersey goes for its 10th win in a row over the Lightning on Friday night as Tampa Bay tries to avoid its first four-game skid of the season.
Oddsmakers from online sports book Sportsbook.com have made the Devils –200 money line favorites for Friday’s game against the Lightning. Current NHL Public Betting Information shows that 84% of more than 253 bets for this game have been placed on the Devils -200.
The Devils (17-7-1) had their six-game home winning streak snapped with a 5-2 loss to Vancouver on Wednesday. New Jersey fell to 1-1-0 on its four-game homestand as Martin Brodeur allowed three first-period goals and a season-high five total.
"It was a tough start for us," Brodeur told the Devils’ official Web site. "We just waited to see how they were playing, and they showed us quickly. We bounced back, we had a good second period. We just couldn’t get that tying goal to make it a real game. We didn’t get down when it was 3-0. We kept plugging away and we almost got back."
If Brodeur starts Friday, he can tie Terry Sawchuk’s NHL record of 103 shutouts as he tries to win his sixth straight start against Tampa Bay. He is 2-0-0 with a 1.87 GAA versus the Lightning this season.
In the teams’ last meeting, Brodeur made 18 saves in a 2-1 shootout victory Oct. 31 at the St. Pete Times Forum, helping New Jersey push its win streak over the Lightning to nine.
Four of New Jersey’s victories in that stretch came via shootout, one of them a 4-3 win Oct. 8 in Tampa. Brodeur stopped 41 shots while Travis Zajac and Zach Parise each had a goal and an assist.
Parise, who has 15 goals and 15 assists in 25 games against Tampa Bay, had his 10-game point streak snapped Wednesday as New Jersey lost for the first time in four games.
"We weren’t ready," Parise said. "They were ready right from the beginning of the game and we weren’t. They took advantage and we couldn’t get back."
Tampa Bay (10-8-8), looking to snap a four-game slide in New Jersey, is coming off a 4-1 loss at Boston on Wednesday.
The Lightning outshot the Bruins 40-39 but lost their third straight after going 0 for 6 on the power play. Jeff Halpern scored 1:27 into the third period for Tampa Bay’s first goal in 107 minutes, 46 seconds.
"We had some chances. We just didn’t finish,” said coach Rick Tocchet, whose team has averaged 2.4 goals during a 1-3-1 stretch. "Smitty (goaltender Mike Smith) didn’t smother the puck a couple of times. Those are the ones that will hurt you.”
Smith, who yielded at least four goals in three of his last five starts, made 34 saves in the Oct. 8 loss to New Jersey. He is 0-0-2 with a 2.78 goals-against average versus the Devils lifetime.
Antero Niittymaki, who splits the workload with Smith, has not beaten New Jersey since March 21, 2006. He went 0-5-5 with a 3.23 GAA in his last 10 starts versus the Devils.
Lightning leading scorer Steven Stamkos had four goals in his last three contests against New Jersey – two on Oct. 8.
He scored in Tampa Bay’s last game at the Prudential Center, a 5-4 overtime defeat April 3.
Posted: 12/3/09 9:10PM ET