Devs storm back to top Lightning

DEVILS LIGHTNING

TAMPA— Jesper Bratt scored three goals for his first NHL hat trick as the Devils rallied from two goals down and beat the Lightning 5-2 Sunday night to end a three-game skid.

Nico Hischier and Nolan Foote also scored to help the Devils improve their league-leading road record to 26-5-4. Vitek Vanecek finished with 22 saves to help the Devils get a win after losing at home to the Lightning on Tuesday and Thursday before blowing a 2-0 lead in a 4-2 loss at Florida on Saturday.

Nikita Kucherov reached the 100-point mark for the third time in his career with a goal in the first period and Alex Killorn also scored for the Lightning, who had won three straight. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 34 shots.

Kucherov put Tampa Bay ahead, 1-0, at 3:26 of the first period, one-timing a power-play feed from Steven Stamkos past Vanecek to reach the 100-point mark. Kucherov previously notched 100 points in 2017-18 and then led the NHL with 128 in 2018-19.

Killorn made it 2-0 at 6:30 of the second, drifting unchecked into the slot before beating Vanecek.

The Devils responded nine seconds later when Bratt took a pass from Hischier and beat Vasilevskiy with a wrist shot from the slot. He tied it another 2:43 later when his straightaway shot from just inside the blue line sailed through traffic and past Vasilevskiy.

Hischier, the first player taken in the 2017 draft, became a 30-goal scorer for the first time and put the Devils ahead with just under eight minutes left in the middle period by beating Vasilevskiy from the high slot.

Foote made it 4-2 at 9:51 of the third with his first of the season, and Bratt completed his hat trick with an empty-netter with 11.6 seconds remaining for his 30th.

The Devils host Minnesota on Tuesday night while the Lightning plays at Montreal Tuesday night.