Game two between the Tampa Bay Lightning and New Jersey Devils got underway in Tampa on Saturday evening, although there was an unusual stoppage just forty five seconds in. Things on the ice started quickly, as any play off game does, but a lock on one of the doors to the Tampa bench sheared a bolt, meaning the door wouldn’t stay closed, and the game had to be held while some repairs were carried out.
As play got started again, the Lightning spent most of the first period firmly in control, pressuring the Devils defence and goal, with the puck spending the majority of the 
period deep in the New Jersey end of the rink.
On one such push on the Devils goal, Brian Boyle fell in front of the crease, and landed on Tyler Johnson’s stick, holding on to it and preventing Johnson being able to get back in to the play. This earned Boyle a two minute minor penalty, however the Lightning failed to capitalise upon it as the Devils penalty kill unit upped the pressure on the offense, and the puck was forced out time and time again.
As the Devils went on a push towards the Tampa zone, the puck was knocked back through neutral ice to Ryan McDonagh, who sent it on to Ondrej Palat, who sent it straight to Brayden Point as Point crossed the blue line. With his head up, Point waited for the right moment, firing the puck over Keith Kinkaid and in to the top of the net.
Just over a minute later though, the Devils responded, pressuring the Lightning goal after a face off, the defence tried to clear it from the crease, but Nico Hischier was in the slot and as the puck was scooped away from the goal, Hischier knocked it straight back through the crowd and in to the net.
The two teams headed out to the break still tied 1-1. The second period seemed a much more balanced affair from a possession perspective. The goals, however, tell a different tale.
Lightning were given an advantage when Ben Lovejoy tried to clear a bouncing puck, but mis-hit it and put it over the glass. Tampa used this advantage to pressure the Devils goal, Steven Stamkos’ shot going wide and bouncing round behind the goal, coming out to Nikita Kucherov, who crossed it through traffic. Alex Killorn was in centre, and hammered the puck in to the goal, putting Lightning back in to the lead.
Just over a minute later, Lightning extended their lead when Point sent the puck out to McDonagh on the blue line, who fired at the goal. Tyler Johnson’s redirect put the puck past Kinkaid, making the score 3-1.
Kucherov picked up an unassisted goal of his own, when he pulled the puck through the neutral zone under pressure, and as he was crossing the goal line in the corner, Kucherov tried to cross it in front of goal. Vatanen came in to try and block the pass, but, got himself tangled with the puck and ended up knocking it past Kinkaid’s foot, increasing the Lighting lead to 4-1.
As time went on, the game took on a more physical aspect, with the checks getting harder and each team letting the other know they weren’t going to tolerate anything from the other. After the whistle to stop play, Kyle Palmieri continued to be a nuisance to the Lightning, and after knocking Viktor Hedman on the arm with his stick, the referee sent Palmieri to the penalty box for unsportsmanlike conduct.
This gave Lightning another advantage, which they once more made the most of. Killorn, in centre as the puck came through traffic put the puck away again. Another assist to Kucherov, with Hedman picking up an assist of his own on this goal.
Kinkaid left the ice following this, having let in five of the fifteen shots he had faced, replaced in the Devils goal by Cory Schneider.
Devils managed a consolation goal in the dying minute of the second period on a rush from deep in their own zone. Cory Schneider passing the puck to Andy Greene, who in turn passed to Sami Vatanen, who took the puck half way down the ice totally unchallenged. Just after crossing the Lightning blue line, Vatanen sent a wrist shot straight past Andrei Vasilevski to make the score 5-2 heading in to the break.
The third period, a total contrast to the first, New Jersey controlled the game, spending shift after shift deep in the Tampa zone, pressuring the goal.
Almost half way through the period, Blake Coleman made it through, after being fed from John Moore and Travis Zajac, Coleman unleashed a cannon straight from centre and in to the net.
Despite the huge pressure put on the Lightning goal, or pulling the netminder for the last two minutes of the game, the Devils couldn’t break through again, and the game finished 5-3 to Tampa.
In his half of the game, Schneider only faced ten shots, stopping them all. Due to the pressure put on him in the second half of the game, Vasilevski faced forty four shots, stopping forty one.
Play now moves to New Jersey, where game three in this best of seven series will be played on Monday evening
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