PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Jesper Bratt carried the puck around the back of the net and tucked it over the goal line to give the New Jersey Devils a 2-1 overtime victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins Sunday afternoon at PPG Paints Arena.
"I saw that their goalie (Tristan Jarry) had everything covered for me to shoot at and I didn't want to force a bad angle shot," said Bratt, who scored at the 2:50 mark of the extra session. "I tried to wrap it and I saw that one of his legs got caught and he couldn't push through to the other side. I saw my chance to wrap it around quick, and got lucky this time."
New Jersey took it to the Penguins from the opening shift, getting four chances and hitting a post in the opening minute. The Devils kept that pressure on all game. It was one of their best performances of the season, which came on the heels of one of their worst Saturday in a loss.
"(Saturday) we weren't ready to play and do the hard work and compete," Bratt said. "Today we changed that. We were way more aggressive. We wanted to win our battles. We wanted to play the right way to get these two points. It was more of a mindset to make the right plays at the right time."
The Devils, who also had a goal from defenseman Sami Vatanen, won two out of three games against the Penguins during the three-game series. New Jersey proved that when it plays the right way, it can compete against any team in the league. It was as much an emotional victory as a moral one.
"From start to finish that was one of our better efforts in the last 10 games," head coach Lindy Ruff said.
Here are some other observations from the afternoon…
* One player that really stood out was the rookie Yegor Sharangovich. The 22-year-old hit a post just 20 seconds into the game. It would be his first of two posts on the afternoon. He may not have ended up on the scoresheet, but he was the Devils' best player (notable mentions to Bratt, Pavel Zacha and Kyle Palmieri).
"I thought (Sharangovich) played great," Ruff said. "He skated really well. When you see him jumping right out of the shoot and going right by them and creating an opportunity. … That might have been one of his best games overall."
In the second period, Sharangovich's effort led directly to the Devils' first goal. He carried the puck into the offensive zone on a 2-on-1 rush and fired a shot on goal. He collected his own rebound and eventually hit his second post. A mere few seconds later was when Vatanen drilled home his tally.
Sharangovich finished the game with five shots, nine shot attempts and a plus-1.
And I wasn't the only one who thought Sharangovich was a star. A few scouts from various teams in attendance for the game also spoke, off the record, of his impressive performance.
* Goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood returned to action after missing two games with an upper-body injury. Blackwood, who was the game's No. 1 star, seemed to be fighting the puck early, but got into more of a rhythm as the game progressed. With each minute and each save, he got stronger and more confident.
Blackwood's best saves came against Sidney Crosby. One on a shot from the low circle, and the other on a hard backhander that caught Blackwood off guard. He also snagged a hard snap shot from Pittsburgh's Kris Letang from above the circles with two minutes remaining in regulation to help get the game to overtime.
"I saw (Letang) coming down and I tried to be patient, be big, watch the puck off his stick," Blackwood said. "Thankfully, I was able to pick that one up."
In fact, the only blemish on his record was a goal from Crosby at an impossible angle along the goal line. Blackwood, who stopped 35-of-36 shots, had no chance at making the save, though he still got a skate on the puck. But that goal isn't the netminder's fault at all.
"He made big saves when we needed him," Ruff said. "He made a couple big saves on their power play. Third period there was probably two really good opportunities that they got. There was one of a 2-on-1 when the puck jumped over our stick, and he stood tall for us."
* I loved seeing Nick Merkley engage with Matheson in the third period. The two sparred in the blue paint and wrestled each other to the ice after a whistle. Merkley was looking for a loose puck when Matheson gave him a check. Merkely responded and the two got into it as they crumbled to the ice. In this game sometimes you have to fight for your ice, literally.
* There are many things a young team must learn, and that progression comes on a curve. First, they need to bring a high level of energy. The consists of working hard and giving maximum effort. Second is the decision-making. That consists of making the correct reads, finding your outlets and being in proper position. Third, which goes hand-in-hand with decision-making, is execution. That consists of making good passes, taking the right angles or winning puck battles.
If a young team is clicking on all of the above, that team will dictate the play with puck possession and generate scoring chances.
New Jersey had all of the above clicking against Pittsburgh. As such, the Devils dictated play, possessed the puck and created the majority of scoring chances. However…
The final element on the learning curve, and perhaps the most difficult, is learning to finish. And it's something the Devils have been working to improve upon all season.
The Devils hit three posts in the game and racked up nearly 20 high-quality scoring chances. But their failure to convert on some of those chances is the biggest reason they didn't route the Penguins.
"I was a little frustrated that we hit posts, we hit crossbars," Ruff said. "It's still bothering us putting pucks in the back of the net when we're having good outings. I think that's affected us getting wins some nights.
"It's been the story of our year. We really feel if we'd have more finish, we'd have four, five more wins right now. We've had games where we dominated the chance sheet and losing games 3-1, 2-1."
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