The New Jersey Devils continued their three-game homestand with a Saturday matinée against one of the league’s biggest surprise teams in the Pittsburgh Penguins. To the victor would go sole possession of first place in the Metropolitan Division. How would a banged-up Devils defense unit handle the aggressive forechecking system piloted by new Penguins head coach Dan Muse? Could New Jersey stay perfect at home? Here’s how it all went down.
First Period
The Devils started off aggressively, registering the first four shots of the game, but could not solve the Penguins’ netminder, Arturs Silovs. Around the midway point of the first period, the early-afternoon crowd was jolted to life when New Jersey defenseman Brendan Dillon delivered a thunderous — and clean — open-ice hit on Pittsburgh’s Tommy Novak, who was shaken up by the collision.
Anthony Mantha jumped off the visiting bench to retaliate, and he and Dillon had a brief scrap before officials stepped in. From that point forward, Pittsburgh took control, ultimately recording 12 shots on net in the opening frame. However, Jake Allen stood tall and kept the Penguins off the scoresheet through 20 minutes.
His counterpart in Silovs wasn’t as fortunate. In the final minute of the period, Arseny Gritsyuk single-handedly cleared the zone after a long stretch of sustained Penguins pressure. He then forced Kris Letang into a costly turnover and, all alone in front, beat Silovs for an impressive opening goal, his third of the year— giving New Jersey a big burst of momentum heading into the intermission.
Second Period
Nico Hischier drew an early hooking call on Pittsburgh’s Erik Karlsson, but the Devils couldn’t capitalize on the power play. Once again, the story of the period was the Penguins’ sustained pressure and relentless forecheck, as New Jersey’s third defensive pairing and fourth line repeatedly found themselves pinned in their own zone.
Allen was fantastic throughout the frame, but he wasn’t flawless. A long-range shot from former Devil defenseman Ryan Graves took a painful deflection off Ondrej Palát’s face and into the net, tying the game for Pittsburgh.
New Jersey generated one grade-A chance late in the period when Jack Hughes found himself alone at the side of the net with the puck, but he was absolutely robbed by Silovs, who flashed the glove for an all-world save.
We headed to the third period knotted at 1–1.
Third Period
The third period was lower-event than the first two, but featured a big “hold your breath” moment for Devils fans. New Jersey captain Nico Hischier blocked a Bryan Rust slot shot with his face, and immediately headed down the tunnel. Needless to say, an anxious Prudential Center crowd erupted when their team’s captain took the ice a few minutes later. Ultimately, for the third straight game at The Rock, OT would be necessary.
Overtime/Shootout
3V3 was absolutely scintillating as the two leaders of the Metropolitan Division traded blows, but ultimately would not produce a winner. Both Allen and Silovs were in full lockdown mode at this point, and alas, sole possession of first place in the Metro would be decided by a shootout.
Paul Cotter shot first for New Jersey, and tucked the puck past Silovs on the forehand. Pittsburgh’s Bryan Rust would try a similar move on Allen to counter, but with no luck. In round two, Jesper Bratt, having watched Cotter’s success on the backhand-forehand move right before, attempted the exact same maneuver and converted. It would come down to the ageless wonder, Sidney Crosby, to keep the game alive for the Penguins, and he could not. New Jersey stays perfect at home, moves back into sole possession of first place in the Metro, and improves to 11-4-0 on the season. Next for the Devils? A visit from the New York Islanders and the league’s newest first overall pick, Matthew Schaefer, set for Monday night at 7 PM.
