The New Jersey Devils (23-11-2) hung on to win a crucial divisional matchup against the Pittsburgh Penguins (19-11-6) last night by the score of 4-2. It was an absolutely wild contest featuring beautiful goals, lots of drama, and a tsunami of penalties (the last part is not metaphorical).
First Period
The Devils got out to a very solid start by killing an early Nikita Okhotiuk penalty. They maintained that momentum throughout most of the period, dominating the play and holding Pittsburgh shot-less for ten minutes. They squandered that momentum, however, when Dougie Hamilton made a brutal turnover to Evgeni Malkin, who walked in and sniped the puck past Vitek Vanecek. The score would remain 1-0 going into the intermission.
Second Period
Things got a bit wacky during the second frame, to put it lightly. Early in the period, Dougie Hamilton appeared to redeem himself with a goal from the point, but it was immediately waived for goaltender interference. The Devils challenged, and the replay appeared to show Pierre-Oliver Joseph of the Penguins redirecting Erik Haula into Tristan Jarry, but the call stood.
New Jersey went on the power play a few minutes later, and Jack Hughes capitalized with a wicked snipe that went just under the crossbar and in, fooling even the announcers. Apparently, the Penguins didn’t like something about the play, and they let the referees know, resulting in a delay of game penalty for “abuse of the officials.” No goal came from the bonus power play, however.
The Penguins went on the power play again a few minutes later, this time off a hold from Kevin Bahl. They pinned the Devils in their own end for almost the whole stint, preventing any of the penalty-killers from changing. This resulted in a goal from Jeff Carter to make it 2-1.
New Jersey took a bench minor after the goal for delay of game, as the team was extremely unhappy as the goal clearly appeared to be kicked in. Luckily, Pittsburgh didn’t capitalize.
Dougie Hamilton finally redeemed himself with a late goal to even things up.
Yegor Sharangovich took a high-sticking call a minute later, giving the Penguins their sixth advantage of the night. That didn’t really matter, because Nico Hischier marched into Pittsburgh’s zone and scored a short-handed goal to give the Devils their first lead of the night. The score would remain 3-2 going into the second intermission.
Third Period
The drama was only just beginning, because, after all that, these teams still had to play the third period. The Devils got a 1:20 five-on-three power play early in the period due to a Jeff Carter interference penalty late in the second and a Brian Dumoulin high sticking call a few seconds into the third. The Penguins admirably killed off the five-on-three, and Nico Hischier took an interference penalty late into the ensuing power play to make it four-on-four. The Devils survived the four-on-four and Pittsburgh’s abbreviated powerplay without allowing a goal.
Erik Haula made a critical error nine minutes into the frame, high-sticking Dumoulin and drawing blood. This meant that New Jersey would have to kill a four-minute double minor. They did just that, stymying every pressure from Pittsburgh and holding onto their slim lead. After that, it was all Devils, and despite a last gasp from Pittsburgh with the net empty, the Devils hung on to win. Jack Hughes scored an empty-netter to ice the game at 4-2.
Results
Despite all the craziness and penalties, this was a solid team win for the Devils. They got contributions from their core players with goals from Hamilton, Hischier, and two from Hughes. It’s been a tough month of December for Jersey, but they can walk away from it feeling good.
The Devils sit in second place in the Metropolitan Division, three points ahead of the third-place Capitals. The Penguins sit just behind them in fourth.
Game Notes
Officials Rule The Night
Last night was arguably the weirdest officiating the Devils have seen all season. I say arguably because it’s hard to surpass the Leafs fiasco. The officials called eight penalties on the Devils (including a double minor) and six on the Penguins for a total of 14. Most of the penalties were justified, but others were complete head-scratchers. Almost half the game was played with penalties.
Despite this, the Devils killed off every one of their penalties, a momentous feat against a very strong Pittsburgh powerplay. They even managed a short-handed goal. The story of the game wasn’t the goals they scored, it was the pure dominance of the penalty kill.
Of course, you also should factor in the above mentioned Penguins’ goal that looked to be clearly kicked. Not only was that not reviewed, but the official had the audacity to penalize New Jersey for refuting the call.
Wild Night for Hamilton
Dougie Hamilton definitely had a night to remember. He made two bone-headed plays in the first period, one resulting in a Penguins’ goal, and it seemed that he might be the scapegoat for a loss.
Hamilton flipped the script in the second, netting the goal that was waved off and the goal that actually counted. He also got a primary assist on the first Jack Hughes goal. Hamilton had a roller-coaster night, but he ended it as the third star.
Other Notes
- Vitek Vanecek had a great night, saving 25 shots on 27 attempts for a .926 save percentage. He posted a fantastic 2.07 goals saved above expected (GSAx).
- Damon Severson was big time for the team. He had 30:12 of total ice time. Just a shade of 12:00 of that alone came on the penalty kill. He was terrific.
Up Next
The Devils will play a matinee against the Carolina Hurricanes on New Year’s Day.