AG Events » Eddie Lack found fault in a stellar performance

TAMPA New York Islanders T-Shirts Womens , Fla. (AP) Eddie Lack found fault in a stellar performance that helped the New Jersey Devils win their third consecutive game.Lack made a career-high 48 saves and the Devils beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 on Saturday night.”This wasn’t my best game by far,” Lack said. ”Two of those goals, I mean, I didn’t make it easy on myself. I felt like the biggest thing for me was just to battle. Coming in I knew I was going to get a lot of shots.”Article continues below ...Making his third appearance as the backup since being recalled from Binghamton of the AHL on Feb. 4, Lack made a terrific glove save on Brayden Point’s in-close shot midway through the second.”Eddie was awesome,” Devils defenseman Ben Lovejoy said. ”That’s a really good team over there. They have a ton of skill. They play hard.”Lovejoy, Nico Hischier, Pavel Zacha and Miles Wood scored for the Devils. Taylor Hall had an assist and has a point in each of the last 17 games he has played in.Tampa Bay got goals from Chris Kunitz, Point and Steven Stamkos New York Islanders Hoodies Womens , and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 24 shots.”We gave them the opportunity to win the game and they took advantage,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.The Lightning, who have lost four of seven, fell a point behind Vegas for the NHL’s best record.Devils went ahead 3-2 on Zacha’s 2-on-1 short-handed goal at 6:27 of the second.Zacha’s goal came while Wood was serving two minor penalties, including a boarding infraction for a dangerous hit on Vladislav Namestnikov. The left wing and Tampa Bay’s Andrej Sustr, whose visor broke and cut his nose, were sent off for roughing during the same sequence.Both Sustr and Namestnikov played in the third period.Wood extended the lead to 4-2 from the slot 1:24 into the third before Stamkos made it a one-goal game on the power play at 5:15.”A lot of mistakes,” Stamkos said. ”Three goals should be enough to win.”Point stopped a nine-game goal drought with his 21st goal on the power play at 2:47 of the second but the Devils pulled even at 2 just 26 seconds when Hischier scored during a 2-on-1.After Lovejoy got his first goal in 31 games from along the right wing boards 2:59 into the first, Kunitz tied it at 1 with 7:19 left in the period.”A well-placed shot that went in New York Islanders Hats Womens ,” Lovejoy said with a smile. ”I assume Vasilevskiy did not see my shot. Miles Wood skated right in front of him.”NOTES: Devils C Brian Boyle missed his third straight game with a right shoulder injury. . Tampa Bay RW Nikita Kucherov had an assist and has a six-game point streak. He has 11 shots on goal. . New Jersey C Travis Zajac moved past Jay Pandolfo into sixth place among skaters on the Devils games list with 820.UP NEXTDevils: At Carolina on Sunday.Lightning: Start a three-game road trip Tuesday night at Washington. Two years ago the St Louis Blues were a couple of games from reaching the Stanley Cup Finals. Today, they are near last in the Western Conference standings and dealing with trade rumors ahead of their matchup with the red-hot Colorado Avalanche.According to TSN Canada, the Blues are interested in trading for Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard, who was in net when the Red Wings beat St. Louis on Wednesday night. It would mean moving away from current No. 1 goalie Jake Allen.It’s what happens when a team is struggling like the Blues.Article continues below ...St. Louis (8-12-3) has lost two in a row and seven of its last 10. Four of those losses came with captain Alexander Steen out with an injury, but he returned to the lineup against Detroit. He played on the fourth line after spending the first part of the season on the third line.“It’s always tough sitting out,” Steen told The St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Wednesday. “I used the time as well as I could to get myself back to a place where I could play.”St. Louis did make a move Thursday, placing forward Nikita Soshnikov on waivers. Defenseman Robert Bortuzzo, who has missed all but five games with a lower-body injury, could be activated.It might be hard for the Blues to turn things around Friday in Denver. The Avalanche (15-6-4) have won six straight after Wednesday’s 6-3 win over Pittsburgh and the top line of Nathan MacKinnon Custom New York Islanders Jerseys , Mikko Rantanen and Gabe Landeskog have been nearly unstoppable this season.The trio combined for eight of Colorado’s 16 points on Wednesday, with Landeskog scoring the game-winning goal late in the third period.Rantanen (42 points) and MacKinnon (40 points) are 1-2 in scoring in the NHL.“Obviously, we’ve been finding ways to create some offense here this season and at this point, you just kind of want to keep it going and keep contributing offensively and being reliable defensively,” Landeskog said after Wednesday’s win.The top line has been producing despite facing every team’s top defensive pairing and top line on a nightly basis. Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said it’s the best line he’s seen this season after it dominated Wednesday night.“They’re not easy to contain,” he said. “It’s not an easy challenge. That line, they’re three elite players that are all on the same line.”The Blues will have to slow down the trio if they want to stop their losing streak. Colorado has scored the most goals (95) in the NHL entering Thursday’s slate of games and is a point behind Nashville in the Central Division.Friday’s game will also serve as a reunion for St. Louis center Ryan O’Reilly. He was a second-round pick of the Avalanche in the 2009 draft and spent his first six seasons in Colorado. He was traded to Buffalo in 2015 and then to St. Louis last summer.He leads the Blues in goals (12), assists (15) and scoring (27). He’s been a solid addition but the Blues might not be done dealing if TSN’s reporting is accurate.