The New Jersey Devils have lost six games in a row and remain at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.
On Monday night, New Jersey lost in regulation at home for only the second time this season, 5-1 to Tampa Bay. The Lightning completed a three-game sweep of the season series with the Devils, outscoring them 18-6.
Nikita Kucherov had a goal and three assists, Brayden Point had a goal and two assists, and Seven Stamkos added a goal and an assist for Tampa Bay in the win.
Including the five games played in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals last spring, those three players have a combined 53 points versus New Jersey since the start of the 2017-18 season:• Nikita Kucherov -- 9 goals, 13 assists, 22 points• Brayden Point -- 6 goals, 10 assists, 16 points• Steven Stamkos -- 5 goals, 10 assists, 15 points
MORE: Lichtenstein: Hynes Sends Message To Underperforming Devils With Hall Benching
Egor Yakovlev scored his first career NHL goal in the loss. The last defenseman to score his first career goal for New Jersey against Tampa Bay was the recently retired Paul Martin on Oct. 18, 2003, in a 3-2 loss to the Lightning at the Meadowlands,
The only other defenseman to score his first NHL goal for the Devils versus the Lightning was Mike Commodore, in a 5-1 New Jersey win at Tampa Bay on Dec. 23, 2000.
On Saturday night in Newark, the Devils battled back to tie the Jets with two goals in a span of 2:23 during the final five minutes of regulation, but lost in overtime, 4-3.
It was the fifth time a game between New Jersey and the Winnipeg/Atlanta franchise was decided in overtime:
• Dec. 1, 2018 -- Jets 4 at Devils 3 (Mark Scheifele game-winner)• Nov. 5, 2011 -- Jets 2 at Devils 3 (Adam Henrique)• March 11, 2011 -- Devils 3 at Thrashers 2 (Travis Zajac)• March 23, 2006 -- Devils 5 at Thrashers 6 (Peter Bondra)• Dec. 15, 2005 -- Thrashers 3 at Devils 2 (Marc Savard)
The Devils also lost two overtime games to the original Winnipeg Jets (now the Arizona Coyotes):
• Feb. 17, 1989 -- Devils 2 at Jets 3 (Dave Ellett)• March 18, 1987 -- Devils 3 at Jets 4 (Brian Mullen)
Will Butcher was a healthy scratch for the game against the Jets. It was the first time this season Butcher did not play in a game for New Jersey after appearing in 81 of the 82 regular-season games as a rookie in 2017-18.
Only nine defensemen in club history have appeared in more games than Butcher, who returned to the lineup Monday night, over their first two NHL seasons for New Jersey:
• Brian Rafalski, 153• Johnny Oduya, 151• Paul Martin, 150• Mark Fayne, 139• Viacheslov Fetisov, 139• Sheldon Souray, 130• Damon Severson, 123• Jonathon Merrill, 118• Alexei Kasatonov, 117• Will Butcher, 106
On Friday night in Washington, the Devils lost to the Capitals, 6-3, dropping New Jersey's road record to 2-10-1 this season.
Here are the Devils' worst road records to start a season (minimum 13 road games):
• 1983-84 -- 1-13-0 (2 points)• 1982-83 -- 1-10-2 (3 points)• 2018-19 -- 2-10-1 (5 points)• 1994-95 -- 3-9-1 (7 points)• 1984-85 -- 4-9-0 (8 points)• 2010-11 -- 4-9-0 (8 points)
Nicklas Backstrom scored three goals and an assist for the Capitals in the victory.
It was the second hat trick by a Devils opponent this season. Gabriel Landeskog scored three goals for Colorado in a 5-3 Avalanche win at New Jersey on Oct. 18.
Backstrom became the fifth player in Capitals history to record a regular-season hat trick versus the Devils. The others were:
• Feb. 23, 2013 -- Alexander Ovechkin, NJD 1 at Was 5• Dec. 7, 1990 -- Mike Ridley, NJD 2 at Was 5• Oct. 15, 1988 -- Dave Christian, NJD 5 at Was 8• Jan. 4, 1986 -- Mike Gartner, NJD 3 at Was 9
Travis Zajac scored a short-handed goal for New Jersey in the loss. It was the 10th short-handed goal of Zajac's career, tying him for the sixth most in Devils history. Here are the franchise leaders:
• John Madden, 17• Patrik Elias, 16• Adam Henrique, 13• Doug Brown, 11• Stephane Richer, 11• John MacLean, 10• Brian Rolston, 10• Jamie Langenbrunner, 10• Travis Zajac, 10
Plus/Minus
Plus: Bratt's Stats. Despite missing Monday night's game against the Lightning due to illness, Jesper Bratt has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in 12 games played since returning from a broken jaw suffered just before the start of the regular season.
Minus: NOvertime. New Jersey fell to 0-5 in overtime this season with its loss to Winnipeg and has now been outshot 20-4 in the five OTs combined.
