Bratt has first career hat trick, Devils beat Lightning 5-2

TAMPA, Fla. — Jesper Bratt scored three goals for his first NHL hat trick as the New Jersey Devils rallied from two goals down and beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2 on Sunday night to end a three-game skid.

Nico Hischier and Nolan Foote also scored to help the Devils improve their league-leading road record to 26-5-4. Vitek Vanecek finished with 22 saves to help New Jersey get a win after losing at home to the Lightning on Tuesday and Thursday before blowing a 2-0 lead in a 4-2 loss at Florida on Saturday.

“We played way better today,” Hischier said. “It would have been a tough one to swallow if we’d given up the lead again, but we all-around played our game. You just have to learn from those games. We know that if we play our game, we can beat those teams. That’s what we have to understand.”

Nikita Kucherov reached the 100-point mark for the third time in his career with a goal in the first period and Alex Killorn also scored for the Lightning, who had won three straight. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 34 saves.

“We have to go back to keeping it simple,” defenseman Zach Bogosian said after the Lightning committed 16 turnovers. “We are a very successful team on the forecheck and getting pucks behind them and then going to work.”

Kucherov put Tampa Bay ahead 1-0 at 3:26 of the first period, one-timing a power-play feed from Steven Stamkos past Vanecek to reach the 100-point mark. Kucherov previously had 100 points in 2017-18 and then led the NHL with 128 in 2018-19.

Killorn made it 2-0 at 6:30 of the second, drifting unchecked into the slot before beating Vanecek. But the Devils responded 9 seconds later when Bratt took a pass from Hischier and beat Vasilevskiy with a wrist shot from the slot.

Devils coach Lindy Ruff said Bratt scoring so quickly after Killorn’s goal was huge.

“We talked this morning about momentum, capturing momentum,” Ruff said. “They can either keep it after scoring their second goal, or we can answer. I thought the quick answer with Bratt’s goal was probably the turning point of the game.”

Lightning coach Jon Cooper agreed.

“I really liked our first period and the first eight minutes of the second,” he said. “We scored that second goal after they had a couple of chances … then an inexcusable goal off a faceoff right away. That never should have happened. That just triggered their momentum. Then it was just senseless turnovers and managing the puck.

“They are a pretty young, fast, skilled team and they were feeling it.”

Bratt tied it another 2:43 later when his straightaway shot from just inside the blue line sailed through traffic and past Vasilevskiy.

Hischier, the first played taken in the 2017 NHL Draft, became a 30-goal scorer for the first time and put New Jersey ahead with just under eight minutes left in the middle period by beating Vasilevskiy from the high slot.

Foote made it 4-2 at 9:51 of the third with his first of the season, and Bratt completed his hat trick with an empty-netter with 11.6 seconds remaining for his 30th.

Bratt said getting his 30th goal on the same night as Hischier meant a little extra. The two entered the NHL with the Devils in 2017-18 and have spent a lot of time on the same line since then.

“For us to both hit 30 on such a special win for us as a group was awesome,” he said. “I’m happy for us both.”

CANUCKS 2, DUCKS 1

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Elias Pettersson had a power-play goal and an assist to extend his point streak to eight games, Quinn Hughes had two assists to give him 60 for the season, and Vancouver beat Anaheim.

J.T. Miller had a goal and an assist, and Collin Delia made 17 saves to help the Canucks win for the seventh time in eight games.

Ryan Strome scored and John Gibson had 38 saves for the Ducks, who were eliminated from playoff contention.

WILD 5, CAPITALS 3

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Matt Boldy scored three goals for his second career hat trick to lead Minnesota.

Ryan Reaves and Brandon Duhaime also scored, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 33 saves to improve to 7-0-0 in his last seven starts for the Wild. Minnesota, which had a 14-game point-streak end Saturday against Boston, moved one point behind first-place Dallas in the Central Division and two points up on Colorado for second.

Alex Ovechkin scored twice on the power play and Dylan Strome once for Washington, 2-4-1 in its past seven games. The Capitals trail Pittsburgh by five points for the final wild card spot with 11 games remaining. Charlie Lindgren stopped 35 shots.

BLUES 3, JETS 0

ST. LOUIS — Kasperi Kapanen, Nathan Walker and Jakub Vrana each scored to lead St. Louis past Winnipeg.

Rookie goalie and Winnipeg native Joel Hofer started in his first home appearance with St. Louis and stopped 33 shots in his fourth NHL start to help the Blues win for the fourth time in six games. He didn’t get the shutout because he had to leave the ice for a skate repair in the second period. Thomas Greiss had a save while filling in.

Hofer started in place of the suspended Jordan Binnington on Friday and had 33 saves in a 5-2 win against Washington — his first NHL game since Nov. 13, 2021. Hofer, called up from Springfield of the AHL under emergency conditions Thursday after Binnington was suspended, is now 3-1-0 in the NHL.

Connor Hellebuyck, starting for the second straight day, had 14 saves for the Jets, who have lost three of their last four games.

RANGERS 7, PREDATORS 0

NEW YORK — Defenseman K’Andre Miller had two goals and two assists in New York’s six-goal first period, and Jaroslav Halak made 22 saves for his first shutout of the season to lead the Rangers.

Artemi Panarin had a goal and two assists in the opening period, and Filip Chytil, Mika Zibenejad, Tyler Motte and Chris Kreider also scored to help New York cruse to its fourth straight home win and second shutout in two days. The Rangers beat Pittsburgh 6-0 on Saturday night after also beating the Penguins on Thursday and Washington on Tuesday.

The Rangers scored six times on their first eight shots, chasing Nashville starting goalie Kevin Lankinen after he gave up four goals on five shots. He was replaced by Juuse Saros.

BRUINS 7, SABRES 0

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Jeremy Swayman stopped 26 shots to post his second consecutive shutout, David Pastrnak matched a career-high by scoring his team-leading 48th goal, and NHL-leading Boston routed reeling Buffalo.

Jake DeBrusk had a goal and three assists, Patrice Bergeron had a goal and two assists, and Garnet Hathaway, Hampus Lindholm, Charlie Coyle and Charlie McAvoy also scored for the Bruins. Swayman now has four shutouts on the season, all since Jan. 16.

Boston improved to 19-1-1 in its past 21 meetings against the Sabres, and 9-0-1 in the past 10. The Bruins won their 26th road game to match a franchise record set in 1971-72. Boston’s 53 wins through 69 games match the team’s fourth-highest total, and are four short of the franchise record set during a 78-game season in 1970-71.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 19 shots in dropping to 0-3-2 in his past five, a stretch in which he’s allowed 21 goals. The Sabres dropped to 2-7-2 in their past 11.

GOLDEN KNIGHTS 7, BLUE JACKETS 2

LAS VEGAS — Jack Eichel scored three goals for his second hat trick of the season and fourth of his career to lead Vegas.

Phil Kessel and Pavel Dorofeyev each had a goal and an assist, and Paul Cotter and Zach Whitecloud also scored for the Golden Knights. Alex Pietrangelo had a career-high four assists and Jiri Patera stopped 35 shots in his second career start to improve to 2-0.

Kirill Marchenko and Liam Foudy scored for Columbus and Patrik Laine had two assists. Daniil Tarasov was pulled late in the second period after giving up five goals on 28 shots. He was replaced by Michael Hutchinson, who had 10 saves.