Tampa Bay @ New Jersey preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 3, 2018 ) Tampa Bay 5, New Jersey 1

Jack Hughes is beginning to show why he was the first overall pick in this year’s draft and will try to keep his hot streak going when the New Jersey Devils host the injury-hampered Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday. The 18-year-old Hughes failed to record a point in his first six NHL games but has scored a pair of goals and set up three others over his last three contests for the Devils, whose bid for a three-game winning streak ended with Friday's 5-3 loss to Arizona.

“I really didn’t realize, it’s the first time he’s played against people older than him,” linemate Taylor Hall told reporters regarding Hughes. “There’s going to be a little bit of time for him to figure out how to play against older guys, and you’re seeing he’s got a point streak now, he’s involved in a lot, he wants the puck on his stick.” Hughes should enjoy playing against the speedy, up-tempo Lightning, who suffered a 4-1 road defeat versus the New York Rangers on Tuesday and lost two important performers with injuries. Former Norris Trophy winner Victor Hedman (lower body) and physical forward Patrick Maroon (upper body) were hurt in the first period while Anthony Cirelli was scratched with an upper-body ailment, and all three are considered day-to-day. Brayden Point, who set up Tampa Bay's only goal in the setback, registered 11 points and a plus-7 rating in three contests against the Devils last season.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Sun (Tampa Bay), MSG Plus (New Jersey)

ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (5-4-2): Captain Steven Stamkos picked up an assist on Tuesday to maintain the team lead with 12 points and reigning Hart Trophy winner Nikita Kucherov (11 points) scored for the first time in seven contests. The injury to Hedman forced coach Jon Cooper to move Luke Witkowski to defense and Tampa Bay may need to recall at least one player with blue-liner Jan Rutta being the lone healthy scratch against the Rangers. Andrei Vasilevskiy (5-3-0, .910 save percentage) finished with 38 saves on Tuesday but has yet to play on back-to-back nights this season, which could mean Curtis McElhinney (0-1-2, .915) will make the start versus New Jersey.

ABOUT THE DEVILS (2-5-2): Nikita Gusev, who shares the team lead with three goals, is slated to sit out as a healthy scratch in order to get a look at the game from above. “A little bit of a reset for him,” coach John Hynes told reporters of the 27-year-old Russian. “And then he’s going to be back up and running and see if we can get him to be more effective and more comfortable. He’s a veteran player with tons of experience, but he’s a rookie in the NHL. And that’s something we want to help him through.” Will Butcher is expected to be back in the lineup in place of Mirco Mueller after missing two games with an upper-body injury and Jesper Bratt is likely to take the spot of Gusev, who was a seventh-round pick of the Lightning in 2012.

OVERTIME

1. The Lightning went 4-for-11 on the power play over their first four games of the season but are just 3-for-20 in their last seven contests.

2. Devils D Connor Carrick is expected to miss 4-6 weeks after undergoing surgery on a broken finger.

3. Tampa Bay has won five straight meetings with New Jersey, including the last two games of their first-round playoff series in 2018.

PREDICTION: Lightning 5, Devils 3