Devils dump Jackets

COLUMBUS — Stefan Noesen, Taylor Hall and Jesper Bratt each had a goal and an assist, and Cory Schneider stopped 41 shots to lift the visiting Devils to a 4-1 win over the Blue Jackets on Tuesday.

Travis Zajac also scored and rookie Nico Hischier had two assists for the Devils, one of several teams tussling with Columbus for first place in the rugged Metropolitan Division with a third of the season in the books. Schneider was outstanding in earning his 100th win with New Jersey during his fifth season with the franchise.

Nick Foligno scored and Sergei Bobrovsky had 32 saves for the Blue Jackets, who lost their second straight and continued to squander opportunities with the man advantage. They continue to have the NHL’s worst power play, failing to find the back of the net on a half dozen opportunities Tuesday.

The Devils (16-7-4) struck first when Zajac picked up a loose puck in front of the Blue Jackets net and poked it past Bobrovsky 4:24 into the first period.

Foligno tied it later in the first period, just seconds after a Blue Jackets power play expired. He had his back to the net but deflected a shot from Oliver Bjorkstrand to beat Schneider. The Devils goalie held Columbus at bay from there.

At 4:47 of the second, Hischier slipped around Columbus defenseman Seth Jones and slid a pass to a charging Hall, who chipped it in from the bottom of the left circle to put the Devils up 2-1.

New Jersey got a third goal with less than a minute left in the second period when Bobrovsky lost track of a deflected shot that Noesen tipped in. Bratt capped the scoring in the third period.

LIGHTNING 6, ISLANDERS 2: Yanni Gourde scored two of Tampa Bay’s three goals late in the second period and the host Lightning beat the Islanders.

After the Islanders dominated the first 16 minutes of the second, Gourde had a power-play rebound goal at 16:22 and then gave Tampa Bay a 4-2 lead 1:34 later on another rebound effort. The Lightning’s top-ranked power play extended the advantage to three when Vladislav Namestnikov scored 50 seconds after Gourde’s second of the game.

Tampa Bay also got goals from Brayden Point, Andrej Sustr and Chris Kunitz, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 29 saves.

Mathew Barzal and Jordan Eberle scored for the Islanders, who had won eight of 10. Thomas Griess stopped 28 shots. — AP