GREATER OZARKS MFA

12/11 20:47 CST Lightning chase Jacob Markstrom on the way to routing the Devils 8-4 Lightning chase Jacob Markstrom on the way to routing the Devils 8-4 By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Hockey Writer NEWARK, N.J. (AP) --- Nick Paul, Darren Raddysh and Pontus Holmberg each scored in the opening eight minutes to chase Jacob Markstrom, and the injury-depleted Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the New Jersey Devils 8-4 on Thursday night. The Lightning have strung together consecutive victories following a four-game skid, which culminated with back-to-back shutout losses. Oliver Bjorkstrand had two goals, Jake Guentzel, Brandon Hagel and Brayden Point got one apiece and Nikita Kucherov recorded four assists as Tampa Bay combined to score 14 times in these two wins. Jonas Johansson made 33 saves in his fifth start in a row in place of injured No. 1 goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, who is out at least two more games. Captain Victor Hedman joined Vasilevskiy and fellow defensemen Ryan McDonagh and Erik Cernak on injured reserve earlier Thursday after aggravating an undisclosed ailment earlier this week. After coach Jon Cooper praised his short-handed team's all-around play other than saying, "We just haven't been able to score," the Lightning busted out offensively against Markstrom, who lasted just seven shots before getting pulled in favor of backup Jake Allen. Paul and Raddysh scored 51 seconds apart, and then Holmberg's weak backhander going in was enough for Sheldon Keefe to yank Markstrom for performance-related reasons for the first time this season. Markstrom's save percentage fell to .875, which ranks 55th out of the 59 goalies who have appeared in at least nine games. Allen allowed five goals on 28 shots in relief. Luke Hughes, Jesper Bratt, Angus Crookshank and Paul Cotter scored for New Jersey, which has lost six of its past seven and nine of 14 since top center Jack Hughes had finger surgery. Xavier Parent made his NHL debut for the Devils. Parent was called up to fill in for Timo Meier, who is taking a leave of absence to attend to a family health matter.

Up next Lightning: Visit the New York Islanders on Saturday. Devils: Host Anaheim on Saturday. ___ AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL

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