The New Jersey Devils enter the second game of the season coming off a loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in their home opener. They move on to face the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena tonight, who are also looking to capture their first win in 2025-26. If the Devils are going to be successful, we’re watching four things ahead of tonight’s tilt.
How to Watch Devils Game vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (10/11/2025); Projected Lines, Notes, & More
Dougie Hamilton minced no words following the 6-3 loss in Raleigh on Thursday.
“We’re going to have to figure out how to beat them in this rink if we want to do anything good this year,” Dougie Hamilton said.
The Devils don’t see the Hurricanes again until January. And although they will want to break the Carolina Curse, New Jersey not only needs to play a certain way against their division rival, but they need to execute the same way all season.
They dropped the ball in their first chance to convert. They should be desperate to convert on Saturday night.
Let’s take a look at what we’re watching.
Work Ethic
The Devils should be coming out firing on all cylinders on Saturday night. The Lightning are sure to be in front of their home crowd, their last chance to capture their first win before they head off on the road for four games, and don’t play in front of their fans for two weeks.
The odds are already stacked against the Devils due to that very fact.
However, the biggest fault the Devils had against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday was just that they were outworked for every puck. See, much like the Lightning would be, the Devils have more skill players than the Hurricanes. Yet, the Rod Brind’Amour-led Canes take no shifts off.
The Devils MUST adopt that mentality, sprint to every puck, skate in straight lines, win their board battles, and take ownership of the puck.
I know, I know, cliché. However, sometimes the coach-speak is reality, and that’s what it was for the Devils two nights ago.
The Devils need to earn every inch of the ice. They have the skill in the lineup, the goals will come.
Power Play
Which leads us to the power play.
By no means can the man advantage be as ineffective as they were on Thursday. In three opportunities, the Hurricanes out chanced the Devils 2-1.
It’s a bad look to allow the other team more scoring opportunities in six minutes when the Devils had more players on the ice.
The Devils need to shore up the blueline when they’re on the attack. Far too often, the blueline is left uncovered, which allows for shorthanded breakaways and odd-man rushes despite the differential in bodies on the ice.
Again, New Jersey has the elite presence they need to have a top power play in the NHL. And, of course they need to be effective at 5-on-5. However, the Lightning have Andrei Vasilevskiy in net. Their best opportunities to score will certainly be on the man advantage.
If carrying the puck over the blueline isn’t working, adjust. Dump and chase, win the puck battles, and set up the cycle.
Then? Quick passes, find shooting lanes, cause chaos in the crease, and clean up rebounds.
Depth Matchup
Last season, the advantage certainly will have been with the Lightning. This season, it’s actually quite close. The Devils have the star power in their top-six to trade chances with Tampa’s top players.
This season, they also have the horses in the bottom-six to give Jon Cooper a headache in terms of matchups.
Conor Geekie, Yanni Gourde, Oliver Bjorkstrand is a healthy mix of youth and veteran talent that can both score and forecheck. As is the Devils’ trio of Ondrej Palat, Cody Glass, and Connor Brown. In fact, the Devils’ fourth-line of Paul Cotter, Luke Glendening, and Arseny Gritsyuk might eve outmatch Cooper’s fourth line of Curtis Douglas, Pontus Holberg, and Mitchell Chaffee.
The top-six should certainly provide on the scoresheet. However, if not for the power play, the bottom-six is likely where the Devils can win the game. Keefe needs to deploy the right matchups, and there’s no reason why the Devils’ bottom-six can’t outscore Tampa’s.
Elbow Grease
The Lightning have had an eventful week. They were part of a gong show against the Florida Panthers that logged 65 penalties for 322 combined penalty minutes, with several fights and roughing minors handed out.
Then, their home opener against the Ottawa Senators was smaller scale, but still saw 12 penalties in the first period, and 15 overall.
Suffice to say, the Lightning have been playing plenty of aggressive hockey. There’s no reason to believe they won’t continue to have that chip on their shoulder Saturday night.
One of the Devils’ biggest criticisms is that they just don’t have that “oomph” factor in their lineup. They have the soldiers to do that however, namely Paul Cotter, Brenden Dillon, Timo Meier, and even the captain isn’t afraid to step in.
The NHL is seemingly trending more toward an aggressive, physical style again. The Devils are viewed as a smaller skill team, and justifiably so. They’ll need to come out of their comfort zone and evolve a bit here, use a little elbow grease, and add that factor to their arsenal. Otherwise, they’ll be eaten alive all season long.
Goaltending
It’s certainly an elite goaltending matchup between the Devils and Lightning. Vasilevskiy vs. Jacob Markstrom is a battle between two goaltenders who could compete for the Vezina Trophy at season’s end.
They each got off to a rough start.
In turn, each should be plenty motivated to get the train back on track.
Markstrom started strong on Thursday, but dwindled as the pressure continued to be applied. The Lightning will apply similar offensive pressure, with more elite talent to be deployed up front. In order for the Devils to have a chance to beat Tampa Bay, Markstrom will have to match, or out-duel Vasilevskiy.
