The Devils suffered another frustrating loss in Tampa as the Lightning defeated them 6-3.

On Saturday night, the New Jersey Devils were handed their 20th loss of the season courtesy of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Inconsistency remains an issue, as the Devils did not put forth a full 60-minute effort.

New Jersey enters the All-Star break with two consecutive losses.

It took over 10 minutes after puck drop for the Devils to record a shot on goal. By the end of the period, Tampa held a 9-6 shots advantage over New Jersey. Tyler Toffoli was credited with half the team's shots on Tampa netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy.

It was a low event first period, where each team played strong defensively and received the necessary saves from their netminders. The teams were deadlocked at zero after 20. 

A little over a minute into the second period, the Lightning took a 1-0 lead. Nicholas Paul scored his 13th goal of the season. Defensemen Victor Hedman and Darren Raddysh collected the assists. It was Hedman's 700th career NHL point.

Timo Meier lost his battle along the wall, allowing Tampa to keep possession in New Jersey's zone and eventually score the game's opening goal. It appeared that Meier was briefly benched after the goal was scored.

At 10:40, Brandon Hagel extended Tampa's lead to 2-0. Paul and Hedman collected their second point of the period as both tallied the assists.

After 40 minutes, the Devils were down 2-0. New Jersey goaltender Vitek Vanecek kept his team in the game as he faced 19 shots. The Devils fired four at Vasilevskiy.

Less than three minutes into the third period, Ondrej Palat got his team on the board. It was his first goal against his former team since signing with New Jersey as a free agent. Nico Hischier and Santeri Hatakka collected the helpers. It was Hatakka's first point as a Devil.

One minute later, Lightning captain Steven Stamkos scored to regain his team's two-goal lead. Nick Perbix and Nikita Kucherov were credited with the assists.

Jesper Bratt scored 7:19 into the period to pull his team back within one. It was unassisted and marked the Swede's 50th point of the season. It is the third time in his career that he reached the milestone.

A turnover by 23-year-old Kevin Bahl ended up in the back of his net as his attempted pass to Justin Dowling was intercepted, leading to Brayden Point's 24th goal of the season. The Lightning led the Devils 4-2.

On Toffoli's fifth shot of the night, he broke through and scored his 21st of the season. Palat earned his second point of the night, and Simon Nemec was credited with the secondary helper.

The Lightning scored two empty netters to secure a 6-3 victory.

Vanecek made 36 saves on 40 shots and had one of his best performances of the season.

UP NEXT: The Devils will host the Colorado Avalanche at Prudential Center on Feb. 6.

LINES:

Timo Meier - Nico Hischier - Jesper Bratt

Tyler Toffoli - Justin Dowling - Dawson Mercer

Ondrej Palat - Curtis Lazar - Nathan Bastian

Max Willman - Chris Tierney -Alexander Holtz

Kevin Bahl - Simon Nemec

Luke Hughes - John Marino

Santeri Hatakka - Colin Miller

Vitek Vanecek

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