New Jersey Devils Locked Down and Out Worked the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-0

   

The New Jersey Devils have been a defensive stalwart for the last two weeks running. The team is on a six-game streak of holding opponents to 20 shots on net or fewer. In tonight’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Devils’ team effort kept the Penguins to a mere 44 shooting attempts and 12 shots on net in regulation. It was a full effort too. From Brett Pesce and Luke Hughes ending plays in the defensive zone to Jonathan Kovacevic and Jonas Siegenthaler stopping plays at the New Jersey Devils blueline to The Big Deal and Nico Hischier backchecking to really end things. Not only did Jacob Markstrom not have a ton to do - but he did make some crucial stops - but it just demoralized a Penguins team that was putting things together. It is not hype; the Devils really locked it down in this 3-0 win over the Penguins.

Pittsburgh Penguins v New Jersey DevilsPhoto by Rich Graessle/NHLI via Getty Images

The win also matched the team effort on offense. While the first period was rough and sloppy, the Devils picked it up in the subsequent periods. The second period opened with rush plays by the Devils with 2-on-1s, 2-on-2s, and 3-on-2s. They ended up out-shooting the Penguins 10-4 where only two of the four were actually dangerous. The first was a tap-in attempt at the left post by Sidney Crosby. Which was denied by the edge of Markstrom’s glove and the post. A bit later, Markstrom went post-to-post to deny a one-timer by Evgeni Malkin. That was the second. Pittsburgh did not do a whole lot else. The Devils kept attacking and it led to a third period where they out-shot the Penguins 14-3 to really put the screws to them in both ends of the rink.

The effort yielded results. The Devils were goalied by Elvis Merzlikins on Thursday. I wrote on Friday that the Devils have generally responded well in the games after that getting goalied. That was the case tonight. They responded by generating 4.11 expected goals in all situations and scoring 3. (3.05 xGF in 5-on-5 and they scored two, for what it is worth.) Two were against Tristan Jarry. Both were greasy. Nico Hischier set up Stefan Noesen at the right post for a near-impossible-to-stop re-direction for the game’s first goal late in the second period. That was Noesen’s 15th of the season; a career high for him and a goal to break the ice. Later in the third, Tristan Jarry made a meal of a rebound that Noesen tried to jam in. The puck squirted out a bit and The Captain slid it in to make it 2-0. Within the final minutes, Timo Meier put home an empty net goal to secure the win at 3-0. No, they did not blow the doors off the Penguins and light up Jarry. They scored what they needed to win and got some insurance.

The effort was truly an effort. The first period was a sloppy one for both teams. The Devils generated four shots to the Penguins’ five as the puck bounced all over the place. The Rock hosted a Rutgers-Princeton game that afternoon that was marred by college refs putting on a clinic of nonsense, Rutgers’ inability to defend the middle or grab boards, and a horrid Princeton band dressed like they are going to sell Springfield on a monorail. The four-and-half hour turnaround from a basketball court to an ice rink meant the ice was unfavorable for both sides to start. The Devils definitely adjusted after the first intermission and the run of play was much smoother as passes by New Jersey were made and touches did not always go astray. The Penguins did play a tight-checking game for most of the first two periods, which also made the run of play tougher for the People Who Matter to watch and the Devils to play in. But, again, they worked through it and got the result.

In an 82-game season, there will be nights where it does not come easy and a team has to find a way to win a relatively low-scoring game. The New Jersey Devils not only did that but they did it by choking out the other team’s offense. Holding an opponent to just three shots with a 1-0 lead that would become a 2-0 lead is impressive. Moreso given that Pittsburgh has been making comebacks a recent thing in their recent wins. You would not have known that from tonight’s game. Will the Devils keep up their streak of holding their opposition to a small amount of shots? Maybe. Will they keep up their effort of continuing to attack and following their general process even when it does not yield goals early or even halfway through the game? Based on this game, yes, and I hope they do. Clearly, it works.

Keep This Change, Mr. Keefe: In tonight’s game, Sheldon Keefe mixed up his forward lines up a bit to varying successes. There was definitely a desire to see Paul Cotter with The Big Deal as Cotter played 4:37 with him and those shifts generally did well. But the major change for tonight’s game was in swapping Dawson Mercer and Stefan Noesen. With Mercer not exactly producing a whole lot next to Timo Meier and Nico Hischier and the same for Noesen with Cotter and Erik Haula, the switch was made.

It clearly worked on the scoresheet. Noesen, Hischier, and Meier each scored a goal tonight. The netfront play of Noesen scored one for him and effectively created Hischier’s goal. The forechecking of those three worked out. The run of play saw the Devils out-shoot the Penguins 11-3 when they played together, which was for 13:07 of 5-on-5 ice time. Which is also a lot of ice time for any line in a game. Noesen himself put up four shots out of eight shooting attempts, including his goal. He was absolutely cooking out there. This line was successful together earlier in the season. It was successful tonight. Keep it going, Mr. Keefe!

It also worked out in the run of play for Mercer, Haula, and Cotter. While they did not score or generate a ton of shots, the Devils out-attempted the Penguins 8-1 and out-shot them 3-0. For a third line meant to change things up, keeping the Penguins to nothing in 5-on-5 is fantastic. There was a bit more offense when Jack Hughes replaced Haula on a shift, which makes for an over-run option. Mercer himself contributed two shots and four misses. Not great but it is something.

Either way, the Noesen-Mercer swapped worked out and it contributed to this win. Again, please keep it, Mr. Keefe.

Dillon’s Best?: The pairing of Dougie Hamilton and Brenden Dillon has been a high-event defensive pairing for better or worse. The Devils will attack a lot with 5-7 behind the forwards and so will the opposition. That was kind of the case tonight as the Devils out-attempted the Penguins 21-12 with Dillon on the ice. But, just like the Penguins tonight, the number of actual shots on Markstrom were rare. The Devils conceded just two shots when Dillon was on the ice. He was fantastic in his own end. He may have wanted to punch Michael Bunting’s lights out, but he resisted the siren song of smashing a mouth and avoided a penalty. He was smart in killing plays. He rarely overcommitted or got caught when Hamilton activated. This was one of his best games as a Devil from a defensive standpoint.

Good Job, Markstrom: Getting a glove on what should have been a sure goal for Crosby was epic. As was the glove save on Malkin. And getting stops on the other 10 shots. Markstrom has been guilty in letting in soft goals even in otherwise good performances and/or good team wins. While he did not have a lot to do, he succeeded at what he needed to do. He was even solid in playing the puck outside of his net tonight, even if those plays generally give me pause live. Good job, Markstrom!

Peter MacDougall and Jean Herbert Wanted a Short Night: This game had exactly three penalties prior to Jonas Siegenthaler and Bunting fighting it out after Meier’s empty net goal. There was an unsportsmanlike conduct call on Erik Karlsson late in the first, a legitimate holding call on Dougie Hamilton past midway through the first, and a legitimate interference call on Paul Cotter close to midway through the second period. OK. Fine. What was left uncalled included Blake Lizotte (who was picked on all game long in the run of play) sliding into Dillon, Sidney Crosby breaking a stick, and at least three trips by the Penguins. Maybe it is my Rutgers-generated salt from this afternoon (apparently you can no-call a shot clock violation) and I know everything cannot be called, but there were some heinous no-calls by Herbert and MacDougall tonight. I am sure there were some penalties by the Devils not whistled either. I am not claiming the Devils were perfectly innocent. It just meant that this game flew by in part of the referee pairing just wanting to let the men play tonight.

Shortened Penguins: Part of why the Devils ran up the shot count and owned the run of play in the third period was because the Penguins ended up shorthanded on defense. Owen Pickering left the game after Noesen’s game and did not return. That put the Pens down to five defensemen for the final period. This also meant more minutes for the returning Pierre-Olivier Joseph (he was just acquired by Pittsburgh from St. Louis for the ever-popular future considerations) and Matt Grzelcyk. The Devils pinned back the Penguins when those two took a shift. They also successfully made Kris Letang and Karlsson play a lot in their own end too. That additional pressure in Pittsburgh’s end helped take more pressure off Markstrom. Combined with some consistently great backchecking and defending of the Devils blueline, and it is easy to understand how the Devils kept the Penguins to three shots in an otherwise not-deep deficit on the scoreboard while taking 14 themselves.

One Last Thought: If there was one thing I would have liked to have seen the Devils adjust with in this game would be their shooting accuracy. The Devils finished the game with 28 shots on net and 23 misses. Most of which were attempts to beat Jarry at the far post. Which I can understand may be open, but when those shots miss - especially if they are hard shots - the puck can rim around the boards for a zone exit. Credit to the Devils for not getting burned tonight on them, but it did keep their offense back before they focused more on directing shots at Jarry. In particular, Hamilton, Jonathan Kovacevic, Noesen, and Meier each had three misses each with Mercer having four. This ended up fine for obvious reasons. For future games, it’s OK for the Devils to just put something more on target in rush situations or when just gaining the zone or when coming in at an angle.

Your Take: The Devils bounced back from Columbus with a 3-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. They locked it down by allowing just 12 shots on net. They out worked the Penguins to take this one as the game went on. There was a lot to like from this one and the Noesen-Hischier-Meier line was a successful reunion. I know I liked a lot of it. What about you? What did you think of this win? What did you like from this one? What do you want to see the Devils do differently ahead of their Monday afternoon game against Our Hated Rivals? Please leave your answers and other thoughts about this win in the comments.

Thanks to Chris for the game preview. Thanks to everyone who commented in the Gamethread and/or followed along with @AAtJerseyBlog on X. Thank you for reading.