NEWARK, N.J. -- The New Jersey Devils showed during their 3-1 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Prudential Center on Saturday that they are learning from mistakes and evolving as a club, something that didn’t happen last season.

Less than 24 hours before puck drop, the Devils on Friday night squandered a late 2-1 lead against the Chicago Blackhawks before losing 3-2 in overtime. Exactly two weeks ago, the Devils built a 2-0 lead against the Lightning in Tampa before losing 3-2 in regulation.

After center Adam Henrique, defenseman Damon Severson and right winger Devante Smith-Pelly gave the Devils a 3-0 lead after two periods, Lightning center Tyler Johnson sliced the lead to 3-1 by scoring 1:59 into the third period. That would be as close as the Devils would allow the Lightning, who could not solve goaltender Cory Schneider again or build any sustained pressure against what should have been a more tired team.

"We didn’t wilt," said Schneider, who stopped 32 shots. "We didn’t sit back the rest of the game. We played great the second half of the second period. The entire third period, we pressed, we got some chances, we didn’t give up a whole lot. To have a third period like that on a back-to-back against two good teams, it’s a good sign."

While the Devils (4-2-2) perhaps began to feel the effects of playing two games in a row -- they were outshot 10-3 in the third period -- the Lightning failed to capitalize despite having not played since Thursday night in Montreal. They outplayed the Devils for most of the first 30 minutes but the Devils made the most of dangerous scoring chances.

Henrique's goal came on a 2-on-1 after Lightning left winger Alex Killorn fumbled the puck at his own blue line. Henrique chose to shoot and beat goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy just 3:57 into the game. Severson struck with 6:47 remaining in the period to make it 2-0, as he stashed home the rebound of Henrique’s shot from near the doorstep.

When Smith-Pelly made it 3-0 at 5:22 of the second period, the Devils had three goals on 10 shots. The Lightning finished the first 40 minutes with 23 shots but could not get a puck past Schneider until it was too late.

That has been something of a trend for the Lightning (5-3-0), who have just one first-period goal this season.

"This league's tough. You can't take anything for granted," Lightning center Steven Stamkos said. "No one gives a (crap) what you did last year. We've got to be better and just come prepared to play. We've been down so many games to start. That's on us as players."

Johnson said: "They came out harder than us to play tonight. It's tough in this league to try to play from behind."

Devils coach John Hynes said Friday that his team played hard enough to get a point from the Blackhawks but not smart enough to get two points. Hynes was critical of penalties in that loss and felt the same way against the Lightning, as the Devils took three minor penalties over the final two periods but weren’t burned like they were against Chicago.

"We have to clean that area of the game up," Hynes said. "That’s my job as the coach, to teach that and get people more accountable in those areas because if we continue with that trend, we’re not going to give ourselves the best chance to win.

"Tampa had surges and opportunities where they had sustained offensive zone time but I felt tonight some of the leaders on our team, on a couple lines, were able to really give us momentum back. We had some good push back at times in that third period for sure."

NOTES: Tampa Bay RW Nikita Kucherov (upper body) is day-to-day. Kucherov was the Lightning's leading scorer last season (30 goals + 36 assists = 66 points). "Every time one of your guns are out, it's not a good situation, but let's just hope it's only a couple games or just one game," Lightning coach Jon Cooper told the media Saturday morning. ... Lightning D Matt Taormina, who once played for the Devils, was scratched. ... Devils C Adam Henrique scored his 100th career goal. … Aside from goaltender, the Devils iced the same lineup they used Friday against the Chicago Blackhawks. ... Devils C Jacob Josefon and LW Reid Boucher were scratched.