Devils Allow 7 Goals in Disappointing Loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins

Despite the power playing pulling the Devils within reach, the Penguins outplayed New Jersey at five-on-five. The Devils’ winning streak ended at three when all was said and done. Check out what happened in Saturday’s loss in this game recap.

The New Jersey Devils and Pittsburgh Penguins entered Saturday afternoon’s game riding three-game winning streaks. The People Who Matter hoped the Devils’ dominance of the Penguins, having won both of the previous two matchups, would continue.

First Period

Pittsburgh opened the first period with a flurry of shot attempts on Jacob Markstrom through traffic in front of the net. Markstrom was up for the challenge and made some solid saves within the first three minutes of the frame. New Jersey had trouble applying offensive pressure but also didn’t allow the Penguins many scoring chances in the first half of the period.

About halfway through the period, Luke Hughes dumped in a puck corralled by Jesper Bratt on the side boards. Bratt slid the puck to Cody Glass at the right faceoff dot, who fired a shot through a screen by Daniel Sprong and into the short side of the net, beating Tristan Jarry. 1-0 Devils!

A couple of minutes later, Brett Pesce drew a hooking penalty on Evgeni Malkin. While the Devils were able to set up their power play structure more than once, they did not record a shot with the man advantage and had difficulty getting the puck off the boards.

The Penguins held the advantage in offensive zone possession time throughout the period. New Jersey allowed shots and shot attempts but did a respectable job protecting the house, clearing rebounds, and blocking shots. The Devils’ bend but don’t break defensive game broke with less than three minutes remaining in the first period. The trouble started with Simon Nemec failing to clear a puck despite having time to do so from the corner of the defensive zone. Instead of banking the puck high off the glass or simply chipping the puck out of the zone, Nemec sent a puck to nobody up the boards. Pittsburgh’s Connor Timmins intercepted the puck and got it to Noel Acciari. Acciari shot a puck that hit Connor Dewar in front. Dewar collected the puck after it hit him and slid it by Markstrom. 1-1.

25 seconds later…Yeah, only 25 seconds later…a bouncing puck hopped past Dawson Mercer, covering the point for Luke Hughes, who had jumped into the offensive zone. Philip Tomasino recovered the puck and skated down the ice with Danton Heinen on a two-on-one. Tomasino passed over to Heinen, who caught the puck off his skate, delaying the play just enough to allow Markstrom to slide by and slid the puck into the open net. 2-1 Penguins. And that is how the period would end.

Second Period

Unfortunately, the second period started a lot like the first. Less than two minutes into the frame, Sidney Crosby made a perfect pass to Brian Rust after passing the blue line. Despite Stefan Noesen being in a good position to defend Rust, the pass placement allowed Rust to tip a shot in tight on Markstrom. Fortunately, Markstrom was up to the challenge again.

The only significant offensive opportunity for the Devils was on the power play following a tripping call on Vladislav Kolyachonok at the 18:23 mark. New Jersey had Pittsburgh scrambling to cover, and Tristan Jarry was frantically shifting from post to post, but the Devils either had shot attempts blocked or tried to make the perfect pass to set up wide-open goals, which never landed. Ondrej Palat had the best opportunity on a shot from the slot, but Jarry got a pad on it and stopped Palat’s rebound attempt.

Things only got worse for the Devils. At 15:36, Rickard Rakell beat Brian Dumoulin to a puck in the Devils’ defensive end. Dumoulin tried to grab Rakell and was going to receive a holding penalty but ended up sliding awkwardly into the boards. Dumoulin appeared hurt and was very slow to get up. Meanwhile, the puck was controlled by Pittsburgh, and it ended up on Crosby’s stick, who slid it to Rakell in the slot. Rakell one-timed the puck past Markstrom on the glove side. 3-1 Penguins.

At 8:16, Brett Pesce received a four-minute, high-sticking penalty. One of the few bright spots for New Jersey was the ensuing penalty kill. New Jersey stifled the Penguins for nearly the entire four minutes. The only shot Pittsburgh had was a puck shoveled into Markstrom’s pad by Rakell from the side of the net. In fact, the Devils had the best scoring opportunity when Curtis Lazar and Nate Bastian took a two-on-one into the Penguins’ zone. After a passing play in tight on Jarry, Bastian roofed a shot into the net. The play was quickly reviewed and deemed offside.

Outside of the power play opportunities and the overturned goal, I cannot think of a scoring chance for the Devils in the latter half of the period. In fact, the broadcast reported that the Devils did not record a shot in the final nine minutes and 27 seconds of play. According to Natural Stat Trick, the shots between the two teams were tied at seven in the second period, but it didn’t feel that way. Natural Stat Trick had the scoring chances at 13 to nine at all strengths and ten to five at five-on-five in favor of the Penguins. The period ended with Pittsburgh up 3-1.

Third Period

The Devils’ woes starting periods continued in the third period. Less than three minutes in, Philip Tomasino picked off a puck after it was bobbled by Johnathan Kovacevic on a D-to-D pass from Brenden Dillon. Tomasino walked into the slot wide open and beat Markstrom with a shot low to the glove side. 4-1 Pens.

A series of four-minute minor penalties allowed New Jersey to climb back into this game. First, Noel Acciari high-sticked Brian Dumoulin in the face. On the power play that followed, the Devils set up in the offensive zone a couple of times without success. In the final two minutes of the man advantage, Simon Nemec made an excellent save at the blue line to keep the puck in the offensive zone and pass to Jesper Bratt. Bratt made a cross-ice pass to Timo Meier, who beat Tristan Jarry with a low, glove-side wrister. 4-2 Penguins.

Just seconds after Meier’s goal, Evgeni Malkin caught Brett Pesce with a high stick and was sent to the box for four minutes. The Devils didn’t need as much time to capitalize the second time. About a minute into the power play, Luke Hughes fired a wrist shot from the center of the blue line, and Nico Hischier tipped it by Jarry. 4-3 Penguins.

Following Hischier’s goal, the Devils briefly generated some offensive zone pressure. However, as was the case in the rest of the game at even strength, New Jersey had problems pulling the puck off the boards and gaining any scoring opportunities inside the perimeter. The Devils’ time on the gas was cut short by an undisciplined penalty by Brett Pesce with just over seven minutes remaining. Kevin Hayes cross-checked Pesce before the puck got to him. Pesce got up and immediately retaliated with a cross-check of his own on Hayes as the puck approached. As is usually the case, the second player, Pesce, received the two-minute penalty. It was a significant blow to New Jersey’s momentum.

The Penguins buried the dagger on the power play that followed. About a minute after Jacob Markstrom made a big blocker save on Hayes, Nate Bastian failed to clear the puck from the defensive zone corner, eerily similar to Simon Nemec’s play in the first period. Following the failed clearing attempt, Pittsburgh controlled the puck and gave Erik Karlsson a low-to-high pass. Karlsson does what he does with time and space, placing a wrist shot in the top left corner of the net. 5-3 Penguins

The Devils could not get anything going when play returned to even strength. With just over three minutes left, Paul Cotter had a chance, making a nice move into the slot in Pittsburgh’s zone, but lost the puck, and nobody could get a shot off. Head coach Sheldon Keefe pulled Markstrom with just under three minutes to play, but things continued to deteriorate for the Devils. With 53 seconds left, Connor Dewar scored his third goal of the season and second of the game on the empty net. 6-3 Pittsburgh.

Somehow, that was not the end of the misery for New Jersey. With 21 seconds remaining, Kevin Hayes caught a pass from Emil Bemstrom at the Devils’ blue line. Hayes skated to the top of the high slot and fired a wrister on the net. Markstrom had a clear line of sight on the shot, but it snuck through him somehow. 7-3 Penguins.

The Result: Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the New Jersey Devils 7-3.

Game Stats: NHL.com Recap, NHL.com Game Summary, NHL.com Event Summary,

NHL.com Full Play-by-Play, NHL.com Shot Report, Natural Stat Trick Game Stats

Takeaways

Frustrated at Five-on-Five

The Penguins dominated the Devils at even strength, particularly in the second period. According to Natural Stat Trick, New Jersey finished Saturday’s game with a Corsi For percentage (CF%) of 46.05% at even strength. They were expected to score just over one goal (1.19) at five-on-five. There were ten minutes of penalties in the third period, but the Devils were outshot 17-12 at five-on-five, allowing five goals while scoring one. In the second period, when penalties were less of a factor, Pittsburgh generated ten scoring chances to the Devils’ five. Outside of the power plays, New Jersey could not generate a forecheck, allowing Pittsburgh to break out too quickly. At the opposite end, the Penguins’ forecheck prevented the Devils from breaking out quickly, forcing them to fight board battles. The Devils did not play well enough at even strength.

Failure to Clear

One of the factors that led to New Jersey’s winning streak was simplifying their game, particularly in the defensive zone. Beleaguered with injuries, if the Devils’ defensemen didn’t have an open outlet, they chipped the puck out of the defensive zone however possible. Pittsburgh’s forecheck hampered those clearing efforts and caused critical turnovers by the Devils. In the first period, Simon Nemec didn’t have an open option, but instead of chipping the puck out, he made an indecisive pass attempt that was picked off. Nate Bastian made a similar play that resulted in a turnover and goal in the third period. With injuries to Dougie Hamilton and Jonas Siegenthaler, New Jersey needs to keep simple and focus on getting the puck out of their defensive zone quickly, however possible.

Stepping Up

While the loss of Jack Hughes has been massive, Jesper Bratt has done everything he can to pick up any slack for the team. Bratt recorded three assists today and has tallied 60 this season, tying Scott Stevens’ single-season assist record. Bratt has now accrued three points in each of the last three games and has tallied 11 points since Hughes’ injury. He seemed to be flying everywhere on the power plays today and is contributing in his new role on the penalty kill. Bratt will crush the single-season assists record in the games to come. He is a ton of fun to watch, and the man deserves a lot of recognition for the season he is having.

Sprong and Glass

As John mentioned in the game preview, head coach Sheldon Keefe elected to start Daniel Sprong over Erik Haula on Saturday. Haula has had a little success in recent games, so this decision was a small surprise (tiny). Outside of the screen on Cody Glass’ goal, I never really noticed Sprong in today’s game. He was brought in to be a sniper, but Pittsburgh’s forecheck forced the Devils to defend and fight for the puck, which was not his strong suit. The Devils are still trying to find a place and strategy to deploy Sprong.

Cody Glass continues to be a fit. He made a nice shot on an excellent feed from Bratt to start the game the way the Devils wanted to. He seems to have found some good chemistry with Bratt. Bratt and Glass finished Saturday’s game tied for second on the team in Corsi For percentage with 57.14 percent. He finished fourth on the team at 55 percent to Sprong’s credit.

Final Thought

Should the Devils be concerned by Jacob Markstrom’s play after returning from injury? Markstrom allowed five goals in a game where he was expected to allow just under two goals per Natural Stat Trick. The seventh goal was a throwaway that didn’t matter regarding the result, but it’s a save that the Devils’ netminder should make.

Up Next

The Devils have a big matchup against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday at 7:00 PM ET.

Your Thoughts

Should we be concerned about Markstrom’s play? Do you think Sprong has a home or niche on this team? What was the cause of the struggles in today’s game at even strength? Let us know in the comments section below. Thank you for reading, and GO DEVILS!