Devils get rude welcome to the playoffs

TAMPA, Fla. — The Devils just got a lesson why the Lightning are the top seed in the Eastern Conference.

Captain Steven Stamkos and high-scoring Nikita Kucherov garner lots of attention. However, the Tampa Bay is hardly a two-man show.

The top seed got early goals from four players — none of them named Stamkos or Kucherov — before holding off the Devils for a 5-2 victory Thursday night in Game 1 of the first-round series.

Ondrej Palat, Tyler Johnson and Yanni Gourde scored, helping the Lightning build a 3-0 lead that New Jersey trimmed to one goal before Alex Killorn and Kucherov, who added an empty-netter with 1:12 remaining, finished off the win before a crowd of 19,092.

“Not the outcome we wanted,” Devils goalie Keith Kinkaid said “That’s why it’s a series and not a game.”

Taylor Hall scored an unassisted goal off a turnover in the second period, then assisted on Travis Zajac’s power-play goal that trimmed the Devils’ deficit to 3-2 midway through third against Andrei Vasilevskiy, who had 29 saves for Tampa Bay, which held off Boston in the final week of the season for the best record in the East.

For the Devils, a shaky opening period was too much to overcome.

“I don’t know what happened. That’s the way hockey goes sometimes. Starting on time is a big part of hockey, and especially playoff hockey,” Hall said. “We have to be a team that’s ready to battle right off the bat and just be aware that they have more than one line; more than Stamkos and Kucherov. They have a lot of dangerous guys and we have to be aware.”

The line of Palat, Johnson and Brayden Point, matched up against New Jersey’s top line, produced a pair of first-period goals and finished with six points.

Killorn’s shot over Kinkaid’s glove restored a two-goal lead before Kucherov, who led the Lightning with 100 points this season, ensured there would be no comeback.

“I thought we played really well. I thought we played within our structure,” said Johnson, who also had an assist on Palat’s goal. “You’ve got to give Jersey credit. They pushed in that second period. That third period, I thought we took it back over. `If we continue to play like that, I like our chances this series.”

Game 2 is Saturday at Amalie Arena.