Martin Brodeur did his part. His team did not. As a result, the Devils suffered another big loss this time losing to the Lightning 3-0. A night removed from a crushing defeat to the Panthers that Hasan already detailed, New Jersey dropped their second straight at a critical time.

With the Flyers winning and the Jackets getting two points in the shootout, this was a must win for the Devils. Instead, they were shutout for the eight time. Ben Bishop stopped all 23 shots and the Bolts used two late second period goals following a big Brodeur penalty shot stop on J.T. Brown to gain the upper edge. Prior to B.J. Crombeen and Mike Kostka tallying 4:32 apart, Brown broke in on Brodeur and was taken down by rookie defenseman Jon Merrill. Awarded a penalty shot, Brown tried to go high glove but was denied by Brodeur keeping the game scoreless. He also robbed Steven Stamkos moments earlier with a glove save.

You would’ve thought that would spark his team. Instead, the reverse happened with Crombeen getting a piece of a Kostka point shot 1:07 later to put the Lightning in front 1-0. Nobody took him in front and the ex-Blues antagonist took advantage for his third from Kostka and Valtteri Filppula. Crombeen had been a healthy scratch the previous four and six of the last seven.

The Devils tried to come back but Michael Ryder was thwarted by a sliding Bishop on the doorstep. The ex-Senators goalie who was stolen by Tampa GM Steve Yzerman at the 2013 trade deadline for Cory Conacher, set the Lightning season mark with his 31st win. At this point, he might be the frontrunner for the Vezina. He wasn’t tested enough and added to a career high with his fifth shutout.

Trailing by a goal, Dainius Zubrus appeared to draw a hooking minor on Teddy Purcell. But the refs also nabbed Zubrus for holding his stick negating a power play. On MSG’s replay, Chico Resch agreed with the call as it showed Zubrus grab a hold of Purcell’s stick after being hooked. Unfortunately, the four on four swung in favor of the Lightning. Kostka scored for a second straight game when he took an Ondrej Palat pass and got behind Jaromir Jagr going to the backhand to beat Brodeur. The play wasn’t without controversy with replays showing that Palat got away with a pick play that trapped Merrill leaving Kostka to beat Jagr and finish. Filppula picked up his second assist.

It was that kind of night for the Devils who also had a Merrill goal waived off early on due to incidental contact. It was the wrong call as no Devil touched Bishop. Something Pete DeBoer noticed after finally watching replays. The Devil bench didn’t protest much.

”From the bench I couldn’t tell,” DeBoer said. ”When I watched the replay, their guy obviously was the one who interfered with the goalie. So it’s disappointing that that call wasn’t properly made. It’s water under the bridge. We’ve got to bounce back.”

”We all know what’s at stake,” he added. ”It’s a disappointing trip, but the season is not over.”

With 14 games left, the Devils play their next five at Prudential Center including a pivotal match March 22 against the Rangers. It’s the final regular season meeting. It won’t be easy with the Bruins and Wild visiting prior to next Saturday’s Battle of Hudson. They also host the Leafs and Coyotes. In fact, New Jersey doesn’t leave the metro area the rest of March visiting the Islanders 3/29 and returning home to play the Panthers 3/31. It’s now or never.

”It’s all about winning,” Brodeur said following making 29 saves in a losing effort. ”It doesn’t matter if I feel good in there. We didn’t get the win. On a personal note, I was seeing the puck pretty good.”

The Devils currently sit 11th. They’re fifth in the Metropolitan Division with 71 points. They’re five behind second place Columbus and the third place Rangers. They trail the Flyers by four for the final wild card. Philadelphia has two extra games remaining including the second half of a back-to-back at Pittsburgh tomorrow on NBC at 12:30 EST. They took the first one 4-0. So, the Devils need help from the Pens. The Rangers will later play the Sharks at MSG. The Caps host the Leafs. The Red Wings are also in action visiting the Blackhawks. They have 73 points and are two out.

The good news is the Devils are a better home team. They’re 16-8-7 at The Rock compared to 13-18-6 on the road. Maybe some home cooking can aid them. They can’t afford anymore slip ups.