Game Summary

The New Jersey Devils returned from the All-Star break in great fashion, as they continued their season dominance of the Pittsburgh Penguins with a 6-3 victory. They are now 3-0 against their rivals and have outscored them 15-6. Basically, if the Devils only played the Penguins this season, they would be a playoff team.

Game Notes

The Devils special teams had a great game scoring two power play goals, and a shorthanded goal as well. Brian Boyle got the shorty off of a beautiful one-handed pass from Pavel Zacha. He would also get one of the power play goals, while Kyle Palmieri picked up the other one, a solid game overall for the special teams. The penalty kill was also a perfect five-for-five.

Keith Kinkaid made 37 saves on 40 shots, which is pretty solid. A good performance for Kinkaid, aside from the second and third goals from Pittsburgh being on the savable side. More notably, the second goal happened because he made a poor decision with the puck behind the net, and then got beaten short side over his glove.

The big three for the Penguins of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Phil Kessel was held to a combined total of one point, an assist by Malkin. That was crucial from the start of the game for the Devils, and they did their job perfectly. They kept the big names off the scoreboard from start to finish, and it ultimately gave them the victory.

The Devils start off the post-All-Star break undefeated and go on to face their Hudson River rival New York Rangers on Thursday at the rock. Be sure to tune in at 7:00 PM on MSG+!