NEWARK, NJ - After a sluggish opening period, the Devils outplayed the Pittsburgh Penguins in the final two periods but could not keep pace on the scoreboard, falling 5-2 on Sunday night.
P.K. Subban and Miles Wood scored the Devils goals.
The Penguins missed the net on a two-on-one but Colton Sceviour picked up the rebound behind the net and wrapped it inside the post on Devils starting goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood to put the visitors on the board early, only 3:35 in.
Pittsburgh doubled its lead off the face-off less than three minutes later. Mike Matheson ripped a shot from the point that was tipped by Sceviour, evading a screened Blackwood to make it a 2-0 game.
"Our first two shifts, when we went inside the zone, turned the puck over, didn't get it deep. We kind of fueled their offense," noted Devils head coach Lindy Ruff.
"I thought their top line was ramped right from the beginning," he added, as the Pens scored on their first two shots and with just over six minutes left in the opening period, the Devils had only two shots on goal to the Penguins' eight.
Andreas Johnsson agreed with his coach's sentiments.
"Pittsburgh came out really hard. They got the first couple pucks behind us, got the forecheck and we couldn't manage to get it out."
Devils got a goal back late in the period. On the rush, Sami Vatanen threaded the puck from the right circle over to Miles Wood who was crashing the net in front. Wood redirected the puck in past Pens netminder Tristan Jarry while he was falling down, narrowing the gap to 2-1.
After one, shots on goal were 10-5 for the Penguins.
The Devils shuffled some of their lines to start the second. Tyce Thompson was skating with Marian Studenic and Jesper Boqvist. Mike McLeod moved to a line centering Miles Wood and Jesper Bratt while Pavel Zacha centered a line with Mikhail Maltsev and Andreas Johnsson.
One line which remained in tact, the Hughes-Kuokkanen-Sharangovich line, had some sustained pressure in the Penguins end but could not solve Jarry despite a handful of close-in chances. Four minutes into the second, shots on goal were 7-0 for the Devils.
Coach Ruff liked the team's response despite falling to 11 forwards.
"We played it real solid. We got shorthanded with Zacha going out so a lot of different line combinations but I thought our passing was crisp," Ruff added, noting that there was no update on the status of the Devils center.
"No update. He's being evaluated. He couldn't finish the game and usually in those situations, it's not promising."
The first penalty of the game went midway through the second after Sam Lafferty was called for hooking.
Devils weren't able to score on that man advantage but they used the momentum to continue to tilt the game in their favor. Fifteen minutes into the second period, shots were 13-2 for the home side.
Bryan Rust wristed a shot from the top of the left circle past a screened Blackwood to extend the Pens' lead to 3-1 with 39 seconds to go in the middle frame.
Devils challenged the goal for goaltender interference, arguing that Jake Guentzel in front had bumped Blackwood. After review, it was ruled a good goal, giving Pittsburgh a two-minute power play.
"The goal late in the period, it was a turnover by us. Our defenseman turned it over. If it gets rimmed around the wall, we probably live to see another day," Ruff added.
After 40 minutes, shots on goal were 19-16 for the Devils, including 14-6 in the second.
With three seconds left in the penalty, Rust made a nice off-balance feed over to Jake Guentzel who fired it past an outstretched Blackwood, extending the Pittsburgh lead to 4-1.
Jarry made a great glove grab on Sharangovich to keep it a three-goal game about five minutes into the third.
It looked like P.K. Subban had scored on a scramble in front but it was ruled no goal with the officials stating that Subban had pushed Jarry into the net. The play went under video review.
After further review, it was ruled a good goal.
"I sent P.K. over to ask if they would consider looking at it because it was their guy's stick that knocked P.K. into the goalie," said Ruff. "I thought the League got that right. The other one could have gone either way."
Teddy Blueger cleared the puck over the glass from his own zone with 6:25 to play, setting up a Devils power play opportunity to get back within a goal but the home side was unable to convert.
Guentzel added an empty-net goal with 1:23 left to seal the deal.
Final shots on goal in the game were 30-24 for the Devils.
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April 12, 2021 at 12:41PM
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GAME STORY: Penguins 5, Devils 2 - New Jersey Devils
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