Penguins fall to Devils in overtime despite improved defense
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Having surrendered at least 40 shots in each of their previous two games, the Pittsburgh Penguins had a distinct pursuit in mind for Sunday’s road contest against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center in Newark.
Don’t let them shoot that much.
“The opportunity, moving forward, is to make sure we do a better job of limiting our opponents’ ability to generate offense, in particular the second half of the game,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said at his team’s facility in Cranberry on Saturday. “Just managing the game when we have leads, making sure that we don’t beat ourselves, we force our opponents to have to beat us. That’s an area we can continue to grow and get better.”
Sure enough, the Penguins improved considerably in that area as they limited the Devils to 25 shots on Sunday. Despite such stout defense, the Penguins were defeated in overtime by their Metropolitan Division rivals, 2-1, through strange circumstances.
A would-be goal by Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson 1:28 into the extra period was waved off by referee Brandon Schrader after it was determined Petterson jumped onto the ice too soon as defenseman Jeff Petry made a change at the bench. The Penguins were charged with too many men on the ice, resulting in a four-on-three power-play opportunity for the Devils.
Defenseman Dougie Hamilton scored the game-winning goal only 39 seconds later.
Pettersson placed blame for the miscue squarely upon his own shoulders.
“The right call was made,” Pettersson said to media that traveled to Newark. “I’ve got to be better. Can’t let the team down in that situation. That’s on me.
“I wanted to get a jump on the two-on-one (rush). I thought (Petry) was closer but I jumped too early. It’s on me.”
It took the Devils all of 56 seconds to take the opening lead.
Corralling a loose puck in his own left circle, Hamilton offloaded it to Devils forward Jack Hughes, who did the rest of the work. Flying up the right wing through the neutral zone, Hughes darted by minimal resistance from Penguins forward Rickard Rakell, gained the offensive zone and pulled up in the right circle. With Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin fronting passively, Hughes simply gripped and ripped a wrister that beat goaltender Tristan Jarry’s glove on the short side for his 30th goal on the season. Hamilton had the only assist.
A four-on-four goal by Penguins forward Sidney Crosby at 6:25 of the first tied the score, 1-1.
Gaining the offensive zone on the left wing, Crosby pulled up at the half wall and spun away from Devils defenseman Damon Severson. Circumnavigating his way above the left circle, Crosby backhanded a pass to Petry along the left wall on a give-and-go sequence. After giving and going, Crosby got the puck back from Petry and swiped a one-timer from the high slot that beat goaltender Vitek Vanecek’s glove for his 22nd goal. Pettersson provided an effective screen on the sequence. Petry and forward Jake Guentzel claimed assists.
In overtime, Hamilton took a pass at the top of the Penguins’ left circle and stroked a far-side wrister past Jarry’s glove for his 11th goal. Hughes and forward Nico Hischier tallied assists.
Jarry made 23 saves on 25 shots as his record fell to 16-5-5.
The 25 shots the Penguins allowed was their fourth-lowest total of the 2022-23 season. In contrast, they gave up 40 shots in a 5-4 overtime road loss to the Senators on Wednesday then yielded 45 shots to the Senators during a 4-1 home win on Friday.
Entering Saturday, the Devils were fourth in the NHL with an average of 34.6 shots per game.
Notes:
• Penguins forward Ryan Poehling was activated from injured reserve before the game and returned to the lineup. He had missed 11 of the previous 12 contests because of an undisclosed injury. Primarily deployed on the fourth line, Poehling logged 9:12 of ice time on 16 shifts, recorded three shots on five attempts and was 0 for 1 on faceoffs.
Early in the third period at the 2:05 mark, Poehling had an opportunity to score a go-ahead goal but was denied on a desperate, scrambling save by Vanecek.
• The Penguins’ last overtime loss to the Devils came in a 2-1 setback at PPG Paints Arena on March 21, 2021. Forward Jesper Bratt scored the game-winning goal.
• The Penguins’ scratches were forwards Jonathan Gruden (healthy), Kasperi Kapanen (undisclosed injury) and defenseman Ty Smith (healthy).
• Former Penguins defenseman John Marino missed his 14th consecutive game because of an undisclosed injury.
• Devils forward Michael McLeod was 13 for 13 on faceoffs.