Lightning offense gets to Devils, 3-2

The Tampa Bay Lightning is finding ways to make Martin Brodeur look ordinary.

Vincent Lecavalier scored his fourth goal of the playoffs, and Brad Richards and Vinny Prospal each tallied their first to help the Lightning beat the New Jersey Devils, 3-2, Monday night in Game 3 of their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series at Tampa, Fla.

Johan Holmqvist stopped 30 shots as the seventh-seeded Lightning took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

“They threw pucks at the net, hoping something was going to happen,” said Brodeur, a three-time Stanley Cup champion. “The first one, he hits the side of the net and it hits me and goes in. Another fluke one, the last one, was almost a copy of the other night” when Lecavalier scored the game-deciding goal in Game 2.

Buffalo 3, N.Y. Islanders 2 -- Goalie Ryan Miller stopped two shots with his mask in the first period and the Sabres scored three goals within a 7-minute, 39-second span of the second period to give top-seeded Buffalo the victory and a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference series.

“When you take them in the head, you don’t feel too good,” Miller said.

A towel-waving sellout crowd and 32 saves from Rick DiPietro in his first home game in three weeks after a bout with post-concussion syndrome were not enough for the Islanders. When Randy Robitaille was whistled for tripping with 1:34 left, the white towels stopped waving and came flying down, along with several beverages that left soda-colored stains on the ice.

San Jose 3, Nashville 1 -- Milan Michalek and Ryane Clowe scored second-period goals, and the Sharks pounded the Predators with 41 shots in the victory at San Jose to take a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference series.