Roundup by period

First period: Turnovers cost Lightning

New Jersey got a boost when rugged defenseman Scott Stevens, who left Monday's game with a cut ear, started with an ear flap attached to his helmet.

More than that, though, was New Jersey capitalizing on two turnovers to take a 2-1 lead.

The Devils struck first when Dave Andreychuk coughed up the puck near the Lightning blue line. Scott Gomez broke in alone, beating Nikolai Khabibulin through the five-hole at 4:52.

Jassen Cullimore tied it with his first playoff goal, a long wrist shot from the left point through a screen at 11:30.

But Dan Boyle lost the puck to the right of Khabibulin, and Gomez fed Patrik Elias, who scored high glove-side at 16:33.

THE POSITIVE: Cullimore's shot proved again Tampa Bay does not need a perfect shot to beat Martin Brodeur. It was the first-ever playoff goal scored by a Lightning defenseman.

THE NEGATIVE: Allowing New Jersey to score first and twice on turnovers, the Lightning appeared to let down after each goal.

KEY PLAYS: New Jersey took advantage of sloppy play by the Lightning. If not for the turnovers, Tampa Bay might have led after one period for the third consecutive game.

KEY PLAYER: Gomez pounced on the puck twice, scoring once and setting up a goal. He was in the right place at the right time and made the Lightning pay for its mistakes.

Period two: Deee-(yawn)-fense

Now that was the Devils team fans have grown to hate. The passive, defensive-oriented, neutral-zone trapping, tight-checking team that can make fans drowsy.

The teams combined for 18 shots, but not much else happened.

The Devils, famous for their trapping defense, displayed their proficiency at it. Tampa Bay tightened up as well, blocking numerous shots and not turning the puck over like it did during the first period.

THE POSITIVE: Tampa Bay had the best scoring chance on Ruslan Fedotenko's point-blank shot from the top of the crease.

THE NEGATIVE: At 16:12, Sergei Brylin went off for interference. But the Lightning failed to take advantage of one of the few opportunities of the period. Before the penalty ended, Tampa Bay was called for too many men on the ice, negating the last 30 seconds of the power play.

KEY PLAY: Martin Brodeur stacked the pads while lying on his right side to rob Fedotenko on Vinny Prospal's feed from behind the net.

KEY PLAYER: Moments after stoning Fedotenko, Brodeur deflected Chris Dingman's tip from in front over the net.

Period three: From stitches to winner

Scott Stevens had much more than his usual physical presence on the ice. With 6:47 left, the veteran defenseman scored his second goal of the playoffs to seal the Devils' victory. The power-play goal helped the visiting team win for the first time in the series. Forced to open things up as the clock wound down, Tampa Bay got caught in a few odd-man rushes.

The score could have been worse had Nikolai Khabibulin not come up with some big saves. THE POSITIVE: With the Devils leading by two and 3:47 left, Khabibulin slid to his right and stopped Jeff Friesen on a two-on-one with Brian Gionta. Moments later, Khabibulin smothered Sergei Brylin's shot off a partial breakaway.

THE NEGATIVE: Down three games to one. Going to New Jersey. This might have been the last home game of the season.

KEY PLAY: Teams trailing in the third can't afford to take penalties. But that's what Cory Sarich did, going off for cross checking. Forty-seven seconds later, it was 3-1.

KEY PLAYER: Stevens' wrist shot after a faceoff in the Lightning zone sailed through traffic and dipped into the net after glancing off the crossbar.

Today's lineup

Lightning