New Jersey Devils 5-1 loss to Tampa Bay Lightning recap 2025: Guentzel hat trick powers Bolts

New Jersey Devils 5-1 loss to Tampa Bay Lightning recap 2025: Guentzel hat trick powers Bolts

Jake Guentzel’s eighth career hat trick and Nikita Kucherov’s climb into sole possession of third place on Tampa Bay’s all-time goal list combined to bury the New Jersey Devils 5-1 on Tuesday night at Amalie Arena. The defeat snaps New Jersey’s four-game point streak (3-0-1) and drops the Devils to 13-5-1 on the season, while the Lightning improve to 10-7-2 and win for the ninth time in 12 games.

First-period burst sets tone in New Jersey Devils 5-1 loss to Tampa Bay Lightning recap 2025

Tampa Bay struck twice in the opening 20 minutes, capitalizing on Devils turnovers and a late-period power play. Guentzel opened scoring at 11:40, swooping in from the right circle after a New Jersey dump-in caromed off the end boards and straight to his stick. The left-shot winger wired a short-side wrister past Jacob Markstrom before the goalie could seal the post.

Kucherov doubled the lead with 22 seconds left in the frame, taking a backhand feed from Anthony Cirelli and snapping a one-timer from the right dot. The goal is Kucherov’s 366th in a Lightning sweater, moving him past Martin St. Louis for third in franchise history. Only Vincent Lecavalier (383) and Steven Stamkos (555) remain ahead of him.

> “When you give that team free possessions, they make you pay,” Devils coach Sheldon Keefe said post-game. “We talked about managing the puck above the circles and we didn’t do it. Two mistakes, two goals.”

Special teams swing game in New Jersey Devils 5-1 loss to Tampa Bay Lightning recap 2025

The Devils entered the night with the NHL’s fifth-ranked penalty kill (84.9 percent) but conceded twice with the man advantage. Guentzel roofed a rebound at 10:38 of the second period for his second goal, then completed the natural hat trick 7:48 into the third on a five-on-three that originated from back-to-back delay-of-game minors.

Darren Raddysh, who finished with a goal and two assists, fired a diagonal pass through the seam that Guentzel one-timed home for the 5-1 dagger. The Devils’ lone reply came late in the second when captain Nico Hischier poked a loose puck past Andrei Vasilevskiy during a net-front scramble, briefly cutting the deficit to 3-1.

> “We’ve killed 21 of 23 on the road trip, so one bad night doesn’t define us,” Hischier said. “But we can’t take two sticks over the glass. That’s on the leaders in here.”

Lineup shuffle can’t spark comeback in New Jersey Devils 5-1 loss to Tampa Bay Lightning recap 2025

New Jersey welcomed back Connor Brown (upper body) and Dougie Hamilton (lower body) from injured reserve, while Evgenii Dadonov (hand) also returned after a four-game absence. The reinforcements provided little spark; the Devils generated only 25 shots at five-on-five and were out-chanced 17-9 in high-danger areas, per Natural Stat Trick.

Brown finished minus-2 in 15:21 of ice time and saw just 48 seconds on the power play. Hamilton logged 19:53 but had two shots blocked and committed the neutral-zone turnover that led to Raddysh’s third-period goal. Jack Hughes, held without a point for only the third time this season, double-shifted with Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier in the third but could not solve Vasilevskiy, who finished with 31 saves.

> “We got away from our identity,” Hughes said. “When we forecheck with four and reload fast, we’re hard to play against. Tonight we were a little late on every rotation and they picked us apart.”

What the result means after New Jersey Devils 5-1 loss to Tampa Bay Lightning recap 2025

The defeat is New Jersey’s first in regulation since Oct. 30 at San Jose and keeps them one point behind the Rangers for first place in the Metropolitan Division. More importantly, it exposes a recurring issue against elite offenses: the Devils have allowed five or more goals four times this season, all on the road.

Tampa, meanwhile, climbs within two points of third place in the Atlantic and has now scored 22 goals in its last five home games. With Jon Cooper absent for personal reasons, associate coach Jeff Halpern improved to 3-0-0 as the interim bench boss.

New Jersey continues its three-game Florida swing Thursday in Sunrise against the Panthers, where a similar start could prove costly against the league’s top power play. The Devils will need quicker gap control and a cleaner breakout to avoid a repeat of Tuesday’s lopsided scoreline.

> “It’s one game,” Keefe stressed. “We’ve responded well after losses all year. We’ll watch the video, own it, and move on.”