Devils Win Pittsburgh Rubber Match in OT

Today the Devils began the second half of their season officially. It came with a rubber match in Pittsburgh at the PPG Paints Arena. The teams had split their two meetings in Newark and the Devils were going into a lion’s den where the Penguins rarely lose.

Instead after a hard-fought 60 minutes of regulation, the Devils came away with a 2-1 overtime victory.

The Devils made some lineup changes with Nikita Gusev slotting out in favor of Michael McLeod, who was recalled from the taxi squad, and Nick Merkley again playing for the injured Nate Bastian, who was placed on Injured Reserve.

Back from injury was also Mackenzie Blackwood, who got the start this afternoon and played phenomenal.

He made 35 saves on 36 Penguins shots for a .972 save percentage. He stopped one Pittsburgh shorthanded shot and all five of their power play shots. He was 29-for-30 at even strength.

Facing him was Tristan Jarry, who started the first game of this three-game series. He stopped 33-of-35 Devils shots for a .943 save percentage. The Devils did not register a shorthanded shot (although Pavel Zacha hit the pipe midway through the second period shorthanded). He stopped all three Devils power play shots and was 30-for-32 at even strength.

Both teams were 0-for-2 on the man advantage.

The Devils outplayed the Pens in the first period. Yegor Sharangovich hit the post very early in the game with Jarry gloving aside the puck to keep the rebound from the trailer.

Despite the hard Devils work, it was the Penguins who got on the board first when Sidney Crosby scored his twelfth at the 3:37 mark of the first. On the goal, Crosby gave to Brian Dumoulin just inside of the Devils’ blueline, he then passed to Bryan Rust who passed to Jake Guentzel who passed back to Crosby, who banked it off the post and off of Blackwood’s skate and in for the 1-0 lead.

And that is how it stayed until 4:48 into the second frame when Sami Vatanen and the Devils tied it. On this one, Travis Zajac dug the puck out of the corner. Janne Kuokkanen got it and passed to Vatanen at the point. Vatanen one-timed it by Jarry to tie the game at one.

And that all the scoring until OT.

It remained knotted at one until the 2:50 mark of OT. And this was a pretty one. Jesper Bratt gave ot Zacha just into the Pittsburgh zone. Zacha gave it back and Bratt tried a wraparound, coming in tight on the post, and sneaking it by Jarry’s skate and the left goal post. That gave the Devils the 2-1 OT win, dropping Pittsburgh to 7-2 in overtime this year. Ty Smith had the secondary assist on the winner.

Team stats-wise, the Devils were barely outshot 36-35, they won 52-percent of the game’s faceoffs. They were outhit 26-24, had nine blocks to the Pens’ 12 and had only three giveaways to the Pens’ ten.

Damon Severson led all Devils skaters in ice time with 24:49 while Jack Hughes led the forwards with 18:17. Hughes and Severson tied in power play time with 2:14 each.

Shots on goal were led y Kyle Palmieri, and Bratti with five. Hits were led by Miles Wood, Bratt and Severson with three each. Blocked shots were led by Vatanen with three. Takeaways led by McLeod, Palmieri, Zacha, Kuokkanen, Ty Smith and Vatanen each with one.

So, next up the Devils head tp Eastern Pennsylvania to take on the Flyers. That game is at 7 PM on Tuesday on NBCSN. We will, of course, have a recap here up after the game.

Until then, stay safe everyone!

Devils Fall in Matinee to Penguins, 3-1

The Devils were playing their last game at Prudential Center for quite a while. Following today’s game, the team will play their next six on the road. They did better on this five-game homestand than their last, finishing with a 2-1-1 record – much better than being swept.

Now, they will head out on the road, which includes the final game of their series against the Pittsburgh Penguins, which is now a rubber game.

The Pens won today in game two of the three-game set, 3-1.

Some updates on injuries. Firstly, Pavel Zacha was back in the lineup after being out the previous game. Nate Bastian is week-to-week with a lower body injury. Mackenzie Blackwood is being listed as having an upper body injury. He is close to a return, but there is no clear timeline for that.

Will Butcher, Bastian and Blackwood were the Devils’ scratches. Michael McLeod was slotted out of the lineup in favor of Nick Merkley.

Because of Blackwood’s injury, Scott Wedgewood was in net again for the Devils. He stopped 26-of-29 shots by the Penguins for an .897 save percentage. He let in the only power play shot he saw and was 26-for-29 at even strength.

Opposing him was Casey DeSmith. DeSmith stopped 24-of-25 for a .960 save percentage and stopped the Devils’ lone power play shot. He stopped 23-of-24 at even strength.

Both teams were in their Reverse Retro jerseys, with the Pens’ ones being white. Today is also the official halfway point of the Devils’ season.

The Devils scored their lone goal 7:19 into the game when Kyle Palmieri struck.

Jesper Bratt and Sami Vatanen broke into the Penguins zone on a rush. Palmieri was trailing and when Vatanen took a shot, Palmieri was right there to put the rebound in.

The Devils had an early 1-0 lead and Bratt is in the middle of the three-game assist streak.

It remained 1-0 Devils into the second period. The Penguins would tie things 4:59 into the new frame.

It happened when Zach Aston-Reese made a nice move around the Devils defense. He briefly lost the puck and it was settled down by Sam Lafferty. He left it sitting there and Aston-Reese shot it under Wedgewood to knot the game at one. Marcus Petterson had the secondary assist.

It stayed tied until the 6:35 mark of the second with the Pens on the power play. Sidney Crosby poked the puck off the wall to Jake Guentzel. Guentzel and Bryan Rust went in on a partial 2-on-1. Rust shot upstairs on Wedgewood to make it 2-1 Pittsburgh.

Things remained that way until 14:25 of the third when the Devils were unable to clear their zone. Crosby saved the puck at the blueline and threw it on net. It was redirected by Wedgewood by Guentzel to give the Pens the 3-1 lead. Rust had the secondary assist on the goal.

The Devils pulled Wedgewood with about 2:06 to go in regulation and it nearly immediately bore fruit.

At 1:54 the Devils had seemingly made it 3-2. However, the officials had also blown the whistle simultaneously. The play was reviewed to see if the puck had crossed the goal line prior to the whistle blowing. It was a quick decision and the call on the ice stood: no goal.

The referee was quick to blow the whistle when he lost sight of the puck. Unfortunately, it cost the Devils a potential comeback.

What also hurt them were the game stats. Pittsburgh outshot the Devils, 29-25, the Devils won 43-percent of the game’s faceoffs. Pittsburgh was 1-for-2 on the power play while the Devils were a whopping 0-for-4. The Pens had six hits to the Devils’ four, ten blocked shots to the Devils’ one. The Devils had 22 turnovers to the Penguins’ six.

Individually, PK Subban led in time on ice with 24:48 while Jack Hughes led the forwards with 19:41. Damon Severson, one of the quarterbacks of the Devils’ power play led in power play time with 4:39.

Shots on goal were led by Merkley with five. Hits were led by Andreas Johnsson, Mikhail Maltsev, Bratt and Ty Smith with one apiece. Blocks were by Subban with one and takeaways by Maltsev and Janne Kuokkanen with two each. Zacha led the centers in faceoff win percentage 69-percent.

Next up, the Devils will finish off their series with the Penguins tomorrow in Pittsburgh. That game is also a 1 PM start and we will have a recap up for you following the game.

Until then, stay safe everyone!