Drouin scores in NHL return, Lightning ice home ice

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Jonathan Drouin scored the winning goal in his second-chance return to the NHL and the Tampa Bay Lightning clinched home-ice advantage for the first round of the playoffs with a 4-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night.

Eric Condra and Cedric Paquette also scored and Ben Bishop made 20 saves as the injury-plagued Lightning snapped a two-game losing streak and won for only the third time in seven games. Valtteri Filppula scored an empty-net goal in the final minute.

The Lightning, who finish the regular season at Montreal on Saturday, will face either Boston or Detroit in the opening round.

Sergey Kalinin scored twice for the Devils, who have now missed the playoffs the past four seasons and five of six. Keith Kinkaid made 18 saves for New Jersey, which wraps up the season at home on Saturday against Toronto.

As much as they wanted home-ice advantage, the story for the Lightning was Drouin. The third pick overall in the 2013 draft walked away from the Lightning's American Hockey League affiliate in Syracuse in January after they refused to trade him.

Tampa Bay suspended him and he did not return to the minors until asking general manager Steve Yzerman for a second chance. Drouin returned March 7 and had nine goals in a 10-game span.

With Steven Stamkos (blood clot) and Ryan Callahan (lower body) out, the Lightning recalled the 21-year-old Drouin on Thursday, and it paid off.

With the Lightning leading 2-1 in the third period, Drouin took the puck from Patrik Elias in center ice, made a pass to Vladislav Namestnikov and then took a return pass before skating in and beating Kinkaid between the pads with a shot from the right circle at 3:50. It was his third goal in 20 games with Tampa Bay this season. He started the season with them before behind sent to the minors, which upset him.

Kalinin capped his first two-goal game with a bad-angle shot after Bobby Farnham forced a turnover.

Paquette had given the Lightning a 2-1 with 5:15 left in the second period, beating Kinkaid in close off a nice pass by Filppula.

Kalinin, who had not scored in 19 games, had tied the game at 1-all at 7:16 of the second period, deflecting a John Moore point shot past Bishop, who earlier in the game stopped break-ins by Farnham and Kyle Palmieri.

Condra scored in the opening period, netting his own rebound.

NOTES: The Lightning also called up D Matt Taormina from Syracuse before the game with Victor Hedman out with an upper-body injury. ... Devils fourth-line C Stephen Gionta ended a 12-game point drought with two assists. ... The win was the Lightning's 21st on the road, one shy of the franchise record