NEWARK, N.J. _ The Devils finally put it all together.
Oh, sure, they've played good games this season. But at no time have they looked as impressive as they did in Saturday night's 3-1 win over the Lightning at Prudential Center to conclude a four-game homestand.
Though outshot, the Devils dictated the pace of play, had the better scoring chances, killed off the Lightning's late power play and held on to a well-deserved lead. That had been an issue in previous losses to the Lightning, Bruins and Blackhawks.
"A lot has been made of not being able to protect the lead when we're looking to have the lead," coach John Hynes said. "It's really important because when you have the lead, that's winning hockey. So you can look at it both ways."
So the Devils (4-2-2), killing off four power plays, including a tripping call on Beau Bennett at 13:58 of the third period, earned seven of eight possible points on their homestand, with their lone hiccup Friday night's 3-2 overtime loss to the Blackhawks when they could not hold a third-period lead.
The Devils also snapped a five-game losing streak to the Lightning (5-3-0), who have two games remaining on a six-game road trip. That included the Devils' 3-2 loss at Tampa Bay on Oct. 15 when they could not hold a two-goal lead in the first period.
The teams play again Saturday at Tampa Bay.
Cory Schneider, who got his first night off on Friday, returned to the lineup with 32 saves while Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 20 shots for the Lightning.
The last time this season _ the only time this season _ the Devils had taken a 2-0 lead in the first period was their first game against the Lightning.
Just as in that game, the Devils seemed to catch the Lightning a half step slow over the first 20 minutes on Saturday.
Adam Henrique, with his 100th career goal, opened the scoring at 3:57 as he was fed on the rush by Damon Severson and beat Vasilevskiy from low in the left circle.
That order was reversed as the Devils took a 2-0 lead at 13:13. Vasilevskiy could not control Henrique's hard slap shot from between the circles and the rebound plopped to Severson with an open look at the net at the right post for an easy goal.
For Severson, it snapped a 51-game goal-less drought, dating to Dec. 11, 2015 against the Red Wings.
Unlike their first meeting, the Devils did not allow the Lightning back into the game in the second period, even if the Devils weren't necessarily getting a ton of shots on Vasilevskiy.
But the Devils went ahead 3-0 _ their first three-goal lead of the season _ on Devante Smith-Pelly's goal at 5:22. Smith-Pelly won a battle for position in front of the crease with defenseman Braydon Coburn and deflected rookie
Nick Lappin's backhand feed from the left boards into the upper right corner of the net. Defenseman Kyle Quincey kept the play alive by pinching up into the Lightning's zone.
It marked Smith-Pelly's first goal of the season, Lappin's first NHL point and Quincey's first point as a Devil.
At that point, Vasilevskiy had allowed three goals on 10 shots but he finished the second period strong to keep the Lightning within three goals.
Vasilevskiy made a sliding pad stop on P.A. Parenteau's shot off a two-on-one rush led by Henrique, blocked Taylor Hall's wrist shot from beneath the left circle and then, in the period's waning seconds, stopped Mike Cammalleri's backhander from low in the slot.
The Lightning closed to within 3-1 at 1:59 of the third period as Brayden Point, carrying the puck in the left corner, threaded a pass to Tyler Johnson cutting through the flat-footed Devils' defense to Schneider's crease.
