TAMPA, Fla. – After opening their three-game Sunshine State swing with back-to-back victories against the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, the Devils were looking for a sweep at Tampa.

But the Lightning struck for a 4-0 win at Amalie Arena Saturday night.

Nick Paul, Darren Raddysh, Victor Hedman and Anthony Cirelli scored for the Lightning. Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy posted a 29-save shutout.

Here are some observations from the game:

• The game was very tight and evenly matched most of the way. It was a 1-0 Tampa lead heading into the third period. That’s when the Lightning were able to pull away, but it was extremely close until then. The Devils just couldn’t find an answer to beating goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.

• The Devils finished their three-game Florida swing with a 2-1-0 record.

• Goaltender Jacob Markstrom had one of his finest performances of the season against the Lightning. He had to make a few point-blank saves on Brandon Hagel and Conor Geekie. But his best save came on Paul. Bolts forward Jake Guentzel had the puck with space the slot. Markstrom was coming off his post to get set. But Guentzel passed the puck all the way to Paul, who was standing in the low far circle, for a one-timed snapshot. Markstrom did a split to get across and reached out with the glove to snag the shot.

Looks like our guy’s glove works just fine against a Paul. pic.twitter.com/OyrGHgWVv1

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) November 17, 2024

• Tampa goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy was honored prior to the game for becoming the fastest goalie in NHL history to reach 300 career wins (490 games played). He received a golden stick as a trophy. He also became the fastest goaltender to 301 victories with a win against the Devils.