Darren Raddysh had a goal and two assists, and Nikita Kucherov had a goal and an assist. Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 31 saves and Tampa Bay improved to 9-3-0 from a 1-4-2 start.
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Nico Hischier scored for New Jersey, returning Dougie Hamilton, Connor Brown and Evgeni Dadanov to the lineup. Jakob Markstrom stopped 24 shots for the Devils, who lost in regulation for the first time since Nov. 2 to end a five-point streak (4-0-1).
The Lightning played without coach Jon Cooper, who missed the game for what the team described as personal reasons. Cooper, the head coach of Team Canada at the Olympics in February, last missed a game on Dec. 21, 2021 in Las Vegas when he tested positive for COVID.
Jeff Halpern served as head coach on Tuesday.
Guentzel opened the scoring with a breakaway 11:40 into the game, and added his second of the game at 10:38 of the second period with a power-play goal while slotting in a pass from Raddysh. Guentzel completed his third hat trick in a Lightning uniform at 7:48 of the third period from the left post when he again put a puck in the net off a cross-ice pass from Kucherov.
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Kucherov moved into third place all-time in franchise history with his 366th career goal with 22 seconds left in the first period to make it 2-0. Hischier cut New Jersey’s deficit to 3-1 with 2:13 left in the second to record his 435th career point and pass Mark Streit for fifth place for a Swiss-born player.
Next
Devils: at Florida on Thursday
Lightning: host Edmonton on Thursday
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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL