A back-and-forth affair at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday, February 4th, ended with the Devils taking a 3-2 shootout win over the Penguins Penguins, who had their first two-game win streak since December 17-19th snapped in the process. A pair of goals from Jack Hughes propelled New Jersey forward, setting the stage for the dramatic finish. The shootout stretched to a nail-biting seventh round before Timo Meier finally put an end to the contest, securing the Devils’ victory. Pittsburgh got goals from both Rickard Rakell and Kevin Hayes. Erik Haula made his return to the Devils’ lineup, and Nico Daws started in net for the first time this season, making 25 saves for New Jersey. The Penguins head out for a two-game road trip, going to Madison Square Garden to start it off on Friday. Heading home to the Prudential Center on Thursday, the Devils will be hosting the Vegas Golden Knights.
New Jersey Devils Lineup:
Palat – Hughes – Bratt
Meier – Haula – Mercer
Cotter – Dowling – Noesen
Tatar – Lazar – Bastian
Siegenthaler – Hamilton
Dillon – Pesce
Hughes – Kovacevic
Daws
Allen
Pittsburgh Penguins Lineup:
Rakell – Crosby – Rust
Bunting – Glass – Heinen
Beauvillier – Hayes – Tomasino
Imama – Lizotte – Acciari
Joseph – Letang
Grzelcyk – Karlsson
Graves – Desharnais
Nedeljkovic
Blomqvist
Jack Hughes came in late in the opening frame to put the Devils ahead 1-0 with just seconds remaining, putting in his 22nd of the season when Jesper Bratt had tapped a loose puck off him in the crease after Ondrej Palat picked up the puck along the right boards back in New Jersey’s zone, drove up into the neutral zone to pass it off to Hughes, who sent it back over nearing the Penguins’ net, Palat backhanded it, and it bounced out before it got in off of Hughes. Before the Devils tally, it appeared that Rickard Rakell scored to give the Penguins the 1-0 lead on the power play, however, it ended up getting waved off because he had used a kicking motion on a pass from Sidney Crosby.
Striking again to make it 2-0 for New Jersey, Jack Hughes found the back of the net for his second of the night and his 23rd of the season right off the face-off. Hughes took a pass from Jesper Bratt after winning the face-off against Sidney Crosby, putting a one-timer in past Alex Nedeljkovic from the right face-off circle with 10:46 on the clock in the second period. From disallowed to delight, Rickard Rakell bounced back to secure a goal to cut it to 2-1 on his 24th of the season at 5:04. Erik Karlsson got ahold of the puck back in Pittsburgh’s zone before handing it over to Rakell in the neutral zone, who passed to Crosby as they were skating up to the net. Crosby got denied by Nico Daws after sending a backhander, and Rakell took the puck from the right side of the net, going around to the left side for a wraparound at the left post.
Kevin Hayes put in his ninth goal of the season to tie it up 2-2 at 12:07 of the third off a one-timer from the slot when he took a pass from P.O. Joseph, who passed it to him from the left side of the net after collecting the puck along the left boards when Anthony Beauvillier carried it into the Devils’ zone, went around behind the net before sending it down along the boards as Luke Hughes was onto him.
Overtime wasn’t enough for the Devils and Penguins, so they went to the shootout to determine the game. After many rounds of no goals or both teams scoring, Timo Meier finished it in the seventh round with a wrist shot.
Jack Hughes on the importance of this win, Nico Daws/goaltending, his second goal, and this response after their previous loss: “It was good. Obviously, let a couple of goals in. We had the lead, and then we gave it up, so great job by the guys who scored in the shootout, and really good job by Dawsy for us. …I think he played really well tonight, so good for him… Jaker’s been playing really well as of late. Dawsy had a great game tonight, and obviously, we got Marky. So, I think we’re really comfortable with our goaltending,” – “We read off each other really well there. He was kind of coming down as I was going up, and it was kind of like a cycle off the puck, so I think it confused him a little bit. Just a great pass by him. …We really needed that win. We didn’t like our performance in Buffalo, so that was a big effort by our group.”
Sidney Crosby on the collision, the game overall/performance, and Alex Nedeljkovic: “I just got tangled up. …I think that we just got better as the game went on, sometimes it goes like that. There wasn’t much kind of going on in the first, then like I said, special teams kind of dominated that second one,” – “He gave us a chance, he made some big saves all night, especially in the shootout, but when you get down to that, anything can really happen. We had some good looks in overtime, he made some saves in overtime, and unfortunately, we weren’t able to get it done there.”
Game Notes:
– Alex Nedeljkovic made a total of 19 saves for Pittsburgh.
– Sidney Crosby left in the third period, returning after several minutes, due to a collision. …Crosby picked up an assist, extending his point streak to five games (seven points; four goals, three assists), but his goal streak was put to an end at four.
– In his return to the lineup, Erik Haula had three shots on goal in 16:28 of ice time after he had missed 12 games due to an ankle injury. He also will be playing for Finland in the 4 Nations Face-Off.
– Jesper Bratt gathered a pair of assists, and Jack Hughes extended his goal streak to three games with five goals total in his past five games.
– Matt Grzelcyk, who was skating in his 500th NHL career game, had two shots on goal in 24:32 of ice time.
– Devils: 30-19-6, Penguins: 22-24-9
– The Devils have won four of their past six games.
– Rickard Rakell has five points in his past five games and was added to Sweden on Tuesday for the 4 Nations Face-Off as an injury replacement.
– In the first period, Jonas Siegenthaler fell along the boards, not making a return for the remainder of the game. He will miss time, according to Head Coach Sheldon Keefe, but needs to be evaluated to determine the severity.
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