The New Jersey Devils (41-31-7) fell 4-2 to the Pittsburgh Penguins (33-35-12) at the Prudential Center on Friday night. Pittsburgh scored four straight goals after falling behind early to hand the Devils a second-straight loss. The loss makes no difference in New Jersey’s playoff seeding, with the Devils locked into third place in the Metropolitan Division and a first round matchup with the Carolina Hurricanes looming next week.
Game Summary
First Period
New Jersey got off to an electric start when Dawson Mercer sprung Erik Haula on a breakaway. Haula fired one over the blocker of Tristan Jarry to open the scoring just 14 seconds in.
The Devils continued to surge after Haula’s tenth goal of the season, drawing a power play a few minutes later. Despite not scoring on the man advantage, Ondrej Palat deflected home a Cody Glass shot 15 seconds after the penalty expired, making it 2-0 Devils six minutes in.
New Jersey continued to push and Jarry made a tremendous glove save to rob Mercer midway through the frame.
Pittsburgh finally had a push of its own late in the frame and the Penguins got their own power play after Johnathan Kovacevic tripped Evgeni Malkin. New Jersey killed off the penalty, but just as the Devils did earlier, Pittsburgh scored nine seconds after the penalty expired.
Malkin was credited for the goal after jamming the puck along the post and Luke Hughes flubbed his clearance attempt into his own net, cutting the New Jersey lead to 2-1.
After one, it was 2-1 Devils while shots were 13-10. New Jersey posted a 58.62 Corsi-for percentage (CF%) and a 54.96 expected goals-for percentage (xGF%) at five-on-five.
Second Period
New Jersey went back to the penalty kill a minute into the second period after Brett Pesce hooked Rickard Rakell. Pittsburgh immediately took advantage when a rebound bounced in off the back of Valtteri Puustinen. Puustinen’s second goal of the season made it a 2-2 game.
The Devils had a chance to respond on the power play five minutes later, but only managed two shots on net. New Jersey again went to the power play late in the frame, but could not get any pucks through to Jarry.
As the period ticked away, Brett Pesce slashed Bryan Rust, giving Pittsburgh a full two-minute man advantage to open the third period in a 2-2 game.
In the second, shots were 4-4. New Jersey managed a 73.33 CF% and a 77.44 xGF% at five-on-five.
Third Period
Pittsburgh began the period with a full crack with the power play. The Devils did a good job for the bulk of the kill, but in the dying seconds, Jake Allen had to fight off a flurry of netfront chances to complete the kill.
Midway through the period, both teams were still searching for a breakthrough, but could not create many great chances.
Cody Glass eventually took a penalty with eight minutes to go after high-sticking Sidney Crosby along the boards, sending the Penguins to their fourth power play of the night.
The Devils could not get a clearance and with 40 seconds left on the power play, Bryan Rust picked out Sidney Crosby on the back door with a beautiful slap pass. Crosby’s 32nd of the season gave Pittsburgh its first lead with 6:39 to play.
Head coach Sheldon Keefe pulled Jake Allen with just over two minutes to play to hunt an equalizer. However, New Jersey could not get any shots on net and Bryan Rust hit the empty net with 1:36 to play to make it 4-2 Penguins.
The Devils pulled the goalie again, but could not create any threatening chances, as Pittsburgh held on for a 4-2 victory.
In the third, shots were 12-8 in favor of New Jersey. At five-on-five, the Devils registered a 65.52 CF% and a 58.18 xGF%.
Wrap-Up
New Jersey outshot Pittsburgh 29-21 in the loss while posting a 64.38 CF% and a 59.86 xGF% at five-on-five.
Jake Allen stopped 17 of 20 shots faced. He allowed 1.08 goals above expected.
In some positive news, head coach Sheldon Keefe said postgame that he expects Dougie Hamilton to be available for the playoffs. Hamilton has not played since March 4 at Dallas.
Game Notes
Special Teams Struggles
In a game where the Devils controlled the better of play at five-on-five, their special teams play let them down on Friday. New Jersey went 0-for-3 on the power play and just 2-for-4 on the penalty kill.
While the results were disappointing, the Devils also had a mixed night process-wise on the power play. New Jersey looked good on its first power play, creating two high-danger chances and 0.68 expected goals. However, on their final two chances, the Devils managed just one high-danger chance combined and only 0.29 expected goals.
Special teams are always crucial in the postseason, but they will be especially so for New Jersey this year. Carolina is one of the best teams in the league at even strength, leading the NHL with a 55.97 xGF% at five-on-five. The Devils, meanwhile, are 11th at 51.04 xGF%.
In order to make up that difference and upset the Hurricanes in round one, the Devils will need to improve their form on special teams by next week.
Solid Showing from Middle Six
Sheldon Keefe deployed a second line of Erik Haula, Timo Meier, and Dawson Mercer and a third line of Ondrej Palat, Cody Glass, and Daniel Sprong on Friday, and both units played well at five-on-five.
The second line led the way for New Jersey with a 77.93 xGF% in over nine minutes together at five-on-five, while the third line posted a 70.85 xGF% in over seven minutes together. The Devils also held the Penguins without a high-danger chance with either line on the ice.
Tough Night for Kovacevic
While most of the Devils finished with very positive underlying metrics, it was a tough night in that respect for Johnathan Kovacevic. At five-on-five, Kovacevic finished with a team-worst 22.46 xGF% in over 15 minutes of ice time.
Pittsburgh also had a 5-2 edge in scoring chances and a 3-1 edge in high-danger chances when Kovacevic was on the ice.
What’s Next
The Devils continue this homestand against the New York Islanders on Sunday afternoon. Puck drop is set for 1:00 pm ET, exclusively on TNT on Max.
Note: All statistics via Natural Stat Trick.