Jack Hughes and Nico Daws Help the Devils Outlast the Penguins

Jack Hughes scored two goals, and Nico Daws made some big saves as the New Jersey Devils beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in a shootout. Check out what happened in this recap.

The Result: The New Jersey Devils defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 in a shootout on Tuesday night.

The 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

First Period

Besides Erik Haula winning the opening faceoff in his return from injury, there wasn’t much to discuss in the first half of the first period. The Devils certainly didn’t kick the door down, but neither did Pittsburgh. Through the first ten minutes of play, the shots were two to one in favor of the Penguins. Pittsburgh invaded shooting lanes and blocked eight shots in the first period.

With 11:15 remaining in the period, Jonas Siegenthaler followed through on a dump in near center ice but caught an edge and fell awkwardly. Siegenthaler had to be helped off the ice and was putting very little pressure on one leg. He would not return to the game.

Brett Pesce was called for high-sticking with just under seven minutes remaining in the first period. New Jersey executed a stifling penalty kill, only allowing one perimeter shot from Kris Letang. Unfortunately, Curtis Lazar was sent to the box just a few minutes later after he sent Anthony Beauvillier sprawling into the net while Kevin Hayes drove to the goal. The Penguins put much more pressure on the Devils in the second attempt on the power play. New Jersey struggled to clear the puck, and Pittsburgh recorded five shots during their second power play. Nico Daws stood tall during the onslaught and made a series of strong saves.

The best scoring opportunities for both teams occurred with under two minutes to play. Before the end of the penalty kill, Jack Hughes made a nifty pass to send Jesper Bratt on a breakaway, but he was stoned by Alex Nedeljkovic. With just over a minute left in the period, a shot from the point was tipped by Sidney Crosby. Daws made the save, but the rebound bounced to Rickard Rakell, who kicked the puck into the net. The goal was immediately called off and reviewed, but the call of no goal was confirmed. In the waning seconds of the period, Ondrej Palat collected a loose puck in the offensive zone and shoveled it toward the net. Bratt, Hughes, and Palat battled and hacked away in front of the Pens’ net. Jack Hughes got enough wood on the puck to sneak it through Nedeljkovic. 1-0 Devils and that is how the period ended.

Second Period

New Jersey did not start the second period on the right foot. About two minutes into the period, Dougie Hamilton carried the puck up ice and into the neutral zone but failed to chip the puck into Pittsburgh’s zone. To compound that problem, the Devils got caught trying to change on the failed dump-in, which nearly sent Blake Lizotte in on Nico Daws all alone. Fortunately, Daws made the stop.

Four minutes into the period, the Devils were awarded a huge opportunity when P.O Joseph was assessed a four-minute double-minor for high-sticking. Jesper Bratt had an early shot on goal, but the Devils could not get much going during the power play. Their best chance came two minutes in on the man advantage when Timo Meier ripped a wrister off the bar; however, the shots by Bratt and Meier were all that New Jersey could muster. The Devils were forced to dump the puck in but couldn’t win the ensuing puck race, leading to clears for Pittsburgh.

With just over 11 minutes remaining in the second period, the Devils executed some crisp passing through the neutral zone. Erik Haula had a good scoring chance eliminated by a Cody Glass holding penalty. Unfortunately for the Devils, Haula elbowed him in the face while gaining body position on Glass. Both players were sent off for two minutes. New Jersey wouldn’t take long to take advantage of the extra ice at four-on-four. One whistle later, Jack Hughes won the faceoff against Sidney Crosby, and the puck was retrieved by Jesper Bratt, who sent the puck back to Hughes for a one-timed scoring blast. 2-0. Hughes’ goal in this matchup felt particularly significant (and would be) because of the missed opportunity on the four-minute power play.

The Penguins would bear down and tilt the ice in their favor following New Jersey’s second goal. Pittsburgh recorded approximately nine shot attempts within the next four or so minutes of play. The Devils had difficulty clearing the puck, forcing players to take long shifts. With just over five minutes remaining, the Pens broke through. Rickard Rakell recovered the rebound from a Sidney Crosby backhand and completed a wraparound attempt, banking the puck in off Nico Daws’ skate as the goaltender moved across the crease. 2-1.

Following the Rakell goal, former Devil Ryan Graves was called for a two-minute minor for tripping Ondrej Palat. Unfortunately for the Devils, Palat negated that penalty by taking one of his own with a careless high stick a few seconds later. The Devils limped out of the second period up 2-1. As the period progressed, New Jersey suffered from mishandled pucks, miscommunication on passing plays and zone entries, and overall appeared fatigued.

Third Period

The Penguins started the third frame with all the momentum, and it took the Devils a few minutes to get going. Four minutes into the period, Pittsburgh fans held their breath as Sidney Crosby was sandwiched by Luke Hughes and Erik Haula. Crosby would slowly leave the ice and head to the locker room but would return.

The Devils appeared out of gas in this period and were forced to chip the puck out of the defensive zone any way they could under the Penguins’ forecheck. With just over 13 minutes remaining in the period, Paul Cotter and Kris Letang would exchange slashes and be sent to the penalty box. Unfortunately, New Jersey did not find the same success they had on the last four-on-four. At 12:07, P.O Joseph gained body position on Dawson Mercer while battling below the red line and fed Kevin Hayes, who ripped a shot past Brett Pesce’s stick and Nico Daws. Tie game. 2-2.

Erik Haula had one of the Devils’ prime scoring chances with just under nine minutes remaining when he recovered a turnover and walked in all alone on Nedeljkovic. He made a nice move but couldn’t beat the Pittsburgh netminder. The Devils hung in there to keep it a tie game, but just barely and struggled against the Penguins forecheck. With just over a minute left in regulation, Jack Hughes turned the puck over to Danton Heinen in New Jersey’s end. Heinen took a point-blank shot and was stopped by Daws. Regulation time ended with the score tied 2-2.

Overtime

The Devils lost the opening faceoff and spent a significant amount of the extra frame without the puck due to lost faceoffs. Paul Cotter made an outstanding defensive play on a Sidney Crosby pass that surely would have been a tap-in at the backdoor had he not deflected the pass away. Jack Hughes logged a ton of ice time in overtime and had two of the best chances to win the game. In the dying seconds of the period, Dougie Hamilton connected with Hughes on a homerun pass, but he was robbed by a strong glove save. Nothing was decided in overtime, so the game moved on to a shootout.

Shootout

This shootout went seven rounds. Rickard Rakell scored first with a little kick fake and beat Daws glove-side. Paul Cotter answered with a forehand to backhand move and roofed it. Daws waited out Sidney Crosby, and Jack Hughes fanned on his opportunity. Daws made a strong glove save on Bryan Rust, and Jesper Bratt beat Nedeljkovic, but unfortunately, just clipped the goalie’s and was deflected away. Anthony Beauvillier made a sweeping forehand to backhand move to beat Daws, but Dougie responded with a clutch 5-hole shot to extend the shootout! Kevin Hayes, Tomas Tatar, Kris Letang, Luke Hughes, and Cody Glass followed and were all stopped. Finally, Timo Meier ripped a wrister into the top corner for the win!

Takeaways

Sloppy and Slow

As this game progressed, the Devils looked more and more tired. Players seemed to have trouble handling the puck and stick-handled one too many times, only to see it drift off their sticks. I noticed several Devils players catch edges and fall down at inopportune times. The Penguins consistently won races to pucks and clearly had the better legs. Forwards made moves at the blue line, resulting in offsides, and struggled with passing accuracy. When the Devils did gain the neutral zone and dump the puck in, they didn’t win the races to recover the puck. Maybe the ice surface was bad? Overall, the team seemed to run out of gas, but two points is two points.

Stepping Up

Nico Daws saved 25 of the 27 shots he saw and stopped five Penguins during the shootout, including Sidney Crosby. During the second penalty kill of the first period, Daws made five critical saves to keep the game scoreless. He made a massive save on Heinen in the final two minutes of the third after a Devils turnover to keep the game headed to OT. He may want the Rakell wraparound back, but he made big saves when the Devils needed him to tonight and helped the team earn two points.

Missed Power Play Opportunity

Had the Devils missed out on points in this matchup, we would be bemoaning the Devils’ power play. In a one-goal game, New Jersey only recorded two shots during the four-minute man advantage and couldn’t get anything going. Timo’s shot was a good one and rang off the bar, but there was little offense generated outside of that. The Devils’ power play was also ineffective against Buffalo, and they surrendered a shorthanded goal to the Sabres. New Jersey scored two power-play goals two games ago against the Flyers, so it isn’t all doom and gloom, but the team struggled to set up or establish any offensive zone time tonight.

Loss of Siegenthaler

We will have to wait on the medical reports, but based on Sheldon’s Keefe’s postgame comments it looks like Jonas Siegenthaler is going miss some time. That is unfortunate because Siegenthaler is one of the team’s most responsible defensemen. The Devils will be missing their starting goaltender, top two-way center (not to mention captain), and now a shutdown defenseman. The injury bug continues to bite. Hopefully the Devils get some positive news on these guys soon.

Can Cotter Get Some Breakaways in Regulation?

Head coach Sheldon Keefe sent Paul Cotter out first tonight, and he was rewarded. Cotter was the first shooter in the only other Devils’ shootout this season against Florida, and he scored in that opportunity, too. From what you hear during the broadcasts and practice reports, Cotter regularly impresses with his shootout moves in practice. Can the Devils find a way to get the guy some breakaways in regulation?

Your Thoughts

What did you think of New Jersey’s energy in this matchup? How did you think Nico Daws played? Is the power play a concern, or should we chalk this up to an off night? Let us know in the comments section below.