Rested Devils welcome well-traveled Lightning

After traveling up the East Coast, the Tampa Bay Lightning probably could use a day off to catch their legs. But instead of some rest, the Lightning will look to complete a challenging back-to-back set by visiting the most rested team in the league, the New Jersey Devils.

The Lightning opened a trip up the Eastern Seaboard on Tuesday night by allowing three goals in the third period of a 4-1 loss to the New York Rangers. The Devils haven't played since losing 5-3 to visiting Arizona on Friday, and they haven't played outside of New Jersey since Oct. 12.

The loss Tuesday was the third in four games for the Lightning, who have dropped six of their first 11 games (5-4-2) following a season in which they won the Presidents Trophy while collecting a record-tying 62 regular-season victories. But head coach Jon Cooper believes Tampa Bay, which has lost four games by two goals or fewer, is closer to regaining its previous form than its record might indicate.

"Our last few games, we've played pretty well," Cooper told reporters Tuesday night. "I'm not upset with our game. It was just tough the way it unfolded a little bit tonight."

Against the Rangers, the Lightning remained tied deep into the third period despite being without center Anthony Cirelli (scratched with an upper-body injury) and losing left winger Pat Maroon and defenseman Victor Hedman in the first period. Maroon was injured while fighting the Rangers' Micheal Haley 1:56 into the game, and Hedman exited with a lower-body injury.

Cooper said the team may need to call up reinforcements from Syracuse, its American Hockey League affiliate.

"When you lose two guys early, it disrupts a lot of things," Cooper said. "I think our legs got a little weary in the end."

Weary legs shouldn't be an issue for the Devils, who are the only NHL team that has played fewer than 10 games this season. The loss to the Coyotes came on five days' rest following a 1-0 win over the Vancouver Canucks.

"You would have liked to get right back on the hopper," Devils center Jack Hughes told reporters Friday night. "It's more of a mental thing. We're pretty rested physically, but we're going to have to sit with this loss for another four days until we get Tampa."

The Devils, whose six points are the fewest in the NHL, used the extra practice time to tinker with their lineup. Left winger Nikita Gusev, a former Kontinental Hockey League star who was acquired by New Jersey from the Vegas Golden Knights in July in exchange for a pair of draft picks, will sit out Wednesday's game after collecting just three goals and an assist in his first nine NHL games.

"We think he can just take a break here for a second and work on some things in practice, give him a chance to see the game," Devils head coach John Hynes said after practice Tuesday. "It's just a little bit of a reset for him."

--Field Level Media