National Hockey League
BOXSCORE | RECAP
New Jersey 3, Tampa Bay 2
When: 7:00 PM ET, Friday, December 19, 2014
Where: Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey
Referees: Mike Leggo, Ghislain Hebert
Linesmen: Tim Nowak, Brian Mach
Attendance: 14916

Devils 3, Lightning 2 (SO): Keith Kinkaid recorded his first NHL victory after stopping all three attempts in the shootout and Patrik Elias scored in the third round as host New Jersey snapped its five-game winless streak (0-3-2).

Elias, who netted his 397th career goal in the first period, skated in and used a pronounced fake before beating Evgeni Nabokov (16 saves) with a backhand shot over the left pad in the bonus format. After denying Lightning captain Steven Stamkos' backhander and Nikita Kucherov's wrist shot, Kinkaid made a right-pad save on rookie Jonathan Drouin to lift the Devils to their second shootout win in their last 19 attempts.

Adam Henrique scored a power-play goal and set up Elias' tally for New Jersey, which posted just its third win in 14 contests (3-7-4). Kinkaid (1-1-2) turned aside 26 shots while making his third start and sixth career appearance.

Kucherov settled a rebound and backhanded the puck over Kinkaid's glove with 41 seconds remaining in the third period to forge a 2-2 tie. Stamkos scored his team-leading 19th goal and second in as many games and Ryan Callahan notched two assists for the Lightning, who have dropped five of seven overall and fell to 2-4-2 in their last eight road contests.

After Henrique tapped home a loose puck in front to open the scoring, Elias doubled the advantage in spectacular fashion as the veteran skated into the right faceoff circle and unleashed a spinning backhand shot over the right shoulder of Nabokov at 15:17 of the first period. Stamkos shoveled home a loose puck from in front with 5:05 remaining in the second to halve the deficit before Kucherov knotted it up late in the third.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Elias remains one assist shy of 600 and four points short of 1,000 for his career. ... Henrique's two-point performance was the 29th of his career. ... Tampa Bay C Tyler Johnson sat out due to the stomach flu, ending his consecutive games streak at 115. ... Drouin notched an assist to extend his point streak to three games.
Top Game Performances
 
Tampa Bay   New Jersey
Ryan Callahan 2 Points Adam Henrique 2
Nikita Kucherov 1 Goals Adam Henrique 1
Ryan Callahan 2 Assists Adam Henrique 1
N/A Power Play Goals Adam Henrique 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Evgeni Nabokov .889 Save Percentage Keith Kinkaid .929
Evgeni Nabokov 16 Saves Keith Kinkaid 26
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Tampa Bay 28 2 0-5 2-3 8 28
New Jersey 18 3 1-3 5-5 12 36
Upcoming Games
  • New Jersey will play their next game at home against Washington. The Devils have a W/L % of .417 after a win and .318 after a loss.
  • Tampa Bay will play their next game on the road against NY Islanders. The Lightning have a W/L % of .524 after a win and .692 after a loss.