Subban takes blame for Devils' loss to Bolts: 'I looked like a rookie'

P.K. Subban was his own harshest critic after the New Jersey Devils fell 7-6 in overtime to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday night.

The veteran blue-liner logged 24 minutes, but he was held off the scoresheet and finished as a minus-2 during the loss. That's not his worst statistical effort, but Subban still took the blame for the loss.

"For our team we played so well all game. We should have won this game. I feel like a lack of me playing up to the level I'm capable of really hurt us today," Subban told reporters postgame.

"Today I looked like a rookie on the ice, to be honest with you."

The Devils took an early lead, and they led 5-3 in the third period before Tampa scored three unanswered goals. Kyle Palmieri netted the equalizer with seven seconds left in the final frame, but Tyler Johnson's overtime winner spoiled a New Jersey effort that featured a 42-23 shot advantage.

"It's frustrating. Personally, I should have been minus-4 today. I don't know if I was or not. They brought me in to do a job, so, I didn't do my job today," Subban said.

Despite his critical self-assessment, Subban's underlying results in Tuesday's affair indicate he was a victim of some poor luck. The Devils controlled 63% of the shot attempts and 67% of expected goals with Subban on the ice at five-on-five, according to Natural Stat Trick. However, New Jersey was outscored 4-1 with No. 76 on the ice.

The Devils acquired Subban in a draft-weekend blockbuster this past summer in exchange for Steven Santini, Jeremy Davies, and two second-round picks. The 30-year-old had recorded four points in nine games entering Tuesday's contest.

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