In Pittsburgh, the New Jersey Devils scored three times in the middle frame en route to a 4-2 win over the Penguins on Friday.
Vitek Vanecek made 25 saves for New Jersey in the win.
For the Penguins, it was their fourth straight loss.
“Really gritty effort,” New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. “It was a hard-fought game, really pretty even 5-on-5. … I think we didn’t panic.”
Jack Hughes scored twice for New Jersey.
New Jersey moved to 23-11-2.
Evgeni Malkin scored in the first period to give the Pens a 1-0 lead.
Jeff Carter scored for Pittsburgh in the middle frame after Hughes tied the game, 1-1, in the frame.
“I just think we weren’t as sharp. We tried to work through it,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said of the man-advantage. “There was no flow in the game. It was just all special teams, for the most part. That’s where the game was won and lost.”
Dougie Hamilton scored for New Jersey in the second to tie the game, 2-2.
New Jersey took the lead on their third goal of the frame when Nico Hischier scored shorthanded for a 3-2 lead headed to third period.
“I think it was definitely a game-changer right there,” said Hischier, the Devils captain. “It was a hectic game out there. We kept our heads in the game and just tried to play our game, and that’s what we did for 60 minutes. … It just feels good. It definitely feels good to have this win tonight.”
Pittsburgh dropped to 19-11-6.
“We just weren’t getting enough pucks and bodies to the net,” Pittsburgh forward Bryan Rust said. “They did a good job of getting in lanes. We were a little bit slow. Our power play has been good for a while. It’s unfortunate we have a little bit of an off night.”
Highes’ second goal came on an empty-net hit.
Tristan Jarry made 24 saves in the Pens loss.
“We want to be on the other side of things,” Jarry said. “Just the way we played tonight was better than the previous two [losses]. I think we’re doing the right things. We just didn’t get rewarded.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.