TAMPA, Fla. -- On a night in which the Tampa Bay Lightning learned they would be without leading scorer Steven Stamkos for between one and three months, his teammates pulled out a much-needed win, getting a power-play goal from Brian Boyle for the lead with 8:28 left in what would end up a 3-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night at Amalie Arena.

Tampa Bay also got an empty-net goal from Nikita Kucherov -- his career-high 30th of the season -- with 28 seconds left to put the game away.

The win briefly put the Lightning (45-28-5) back in a tie with Florida for first place in the Atlantic Division, though the Panthers scored twice in the last five minutes to beat the Canadiens and retake a two-point lead with four games remaining. New Jersey (37-34-8) is out of playoff contention but nearly played spoiler, and the Devils will get another shot Thursday when the teams meet again in Newark.

"I really, really enjoyed the way we played in the third," said Lightning coach Jon Cooper. "Third period tonight, we came out possessed to win a hockey game. Really happy about the way we responded."

Boyle redirected a shot from Nikita Nesterov in front of the net, then backhanded the puck into the net as he fell to his knees, putting his head on the ice to celebrate after what had been a frustrating night on the power play.

Boyle's 12th goal of the season ended a game-long rut for the Lightning, who had missed on their first six opportunities to fall to 4 of 48 in their last 16 games. Tampa Bay had two power plays in the first 10 minutes of the third period, helping the Lightning get the first 11 shots of the period.

Lightning goalie Ben Bishop had 25 saves to pick up his 34th win of the season.

The big news of the night came after the win, as the Lightning announced that Stamkos -- their top scorer with 36 goals -- would undergo surgery Monday to address a blood clot in his arm near his right collarbone, from a condition known as effort thrombosis.

"During my recovery, I will do all I can to help my teammates, and I hope to rejoin them soon in the Stanley Cup playoffs," Stamkos said in a statement.

It was a strong night for the Tampa Bay defense, still working out its back line since losing starter Anton Stralman to a broken leg last week.

"A huge win for us -- I'm very happy, especially with the third period," said defenseman Victor Hedman, who scored the game's first goal.

New Jersey pulled goalie Cory Schneider with 90 seconds to play for the extra attacker, but the Lightning defense held.

Once the Lightning got the lead back in the third period, it still wasn't easy. But the Devils got their sixth power play of the game and Bishop came up with big saves.

Had the Lightning lost, their outcome paired with a Detroit win would have put them within two points of the last playoff spot in the East with four games to play.

The Lightning, playing without Stamkos, took a 1-0 lead in the second period, only to lose it in the final minute of the second on the Devils' fifth power play of the night.

Center Adam Henrique fired a left-handed shot to the top right corner of the net to beat Bishop and tie the game at 1-1 with 27 seconds left in the period.

Tampa Bay defenseman Braydon Coburn had been called for his second holding penalty of the period, setting up the tying goal right before intermission.

After a scoreless opening period, Tampa Bay jumped ahead on a goal by Hedman, who came charging up the middle and took a pass from wing Ondrej Palat and beat Devils goalie Corey Schneider for his ninth goal of the season with 10:57 left.

"It's disappointing because we had addressed before the game that we'd been taking too many penalties," Schneider said. "Tonight, a lot of them were unnecessary. It's something we can control and have to be better at."

The Devils didn't know when the game started that they had been eliminated from playoff contention: "We put up a fight. It's disappointing that we're not going to be in the playoff, but we played with energy and that's all we can ask for now."

The Lightning, too, had opportunities on the power play, but went 0 of 4 with the man advantage.

The Lightning went into the game three points up on Boston for the second seed in the Atlantic Division, but their momentum was wobbly coming off a 3-0 loss to Montreal on Thursday, especially with Stamkos suddenly sidelined.

Tampa Bay's final four games of the regular-season are on the road in the next week, including three against teams in playoff contention.

NOTES: The Lightning had a major and unexpected absence, with leading scorer Steven Stamkos scratched for the first time this season because of a blood clot that will require surgery. Stamkos, who leads the Lightning with 36 goals and 64 points, had played a full game in Thursday's loss to Montreal. ... The Lightning on Thursday got back two key wings who had been out with injury, Ryan Callahan and Nikita Kucherov, and lost top defenseman Anton Stralman for another month or more because of a broken leg last week. In addition to Stamkos and Stralman, Tampa Bay had C Jonathan Marchessault and D Slater Koekkoek as healthy scratches. ... The Devils got key players back from injury, with C Jacob Josefson dressed after missing 12 games because of an upper-body injury and D David Schlemko back after missing seven games because of an upper-body injury. D Jon Merrill missed a seventh straight game because of an upper-body injury.