PITTSBURGH, PA - The Devils may have been without three of their top forwards and facing a Pittsburgh Penguins team that was on a five-game win streak, but New Jersey rose to the challenge, beating the Penguins, 5-2. Curtis Lazar, Nathan Bastian, Jesper Bratt, Alexander Holtz, and Tyler Toffoli all scored in the win.
“We’ve talked about playing this way and now we’ve finally showed it,” Lazar said post-game. “At times it wasn’t pretty but it was simple. We moved the puck, we played fast. I think if we do that consistently we’re going to be a hard team to beat. Guys in the right spots, and taking it upon ourselves to win our battles, and to compete. Ultimately I think that’s as close to a full-60 minutes we’ve had this year.”
“What I look at is the even-strength goals, we’ve really struggled with finishing opportunities,” Devils head coach Lindy Ruff explained. “I think tonight we capitalized on the good opportunities. We’re not talking about missed opportunities finally. We got that third one and I think what was really important was getting that fourth to create a little bit of comfort in that last seven or eight minutes. We got rewarded for doing the right thing and we need to continue to play that way.”
The scoring started six and a half minutes in when Bryan Rust gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead. The Devils were in the midst of a change with Rust open on the far side. Jake Guentzel found Rust and the forward went in on a breakaway and scored.
Curtis Lazar tied the game up at 1-1 while the Devils were shorthanded with six and half minutes left in the opening frame. Erik Haula intercepted a pass in the neutral zone and quickly headed up ice on a 2-on-1 with Lazar. Haula passed it to Lazar who waited and then beat Tristan Jarry five-hole. The goal was Lazar’s third of the season and third in the last six games. Haula’s assist is his second point in as many games.
The Penguins took back a lead when Bryan Rust’s second of the game put the home team up 2-1. Erik Karlsson shot the puck and Rust deflected it in front of the net to make it 2-1. The Devils would respond 38 seconds later when Nathan Bastian scored to tie the game 2-2. Bastian’s first of the season came from the forward cleaning up a rebound and beating Jarry. Erik Haula and Dougie Hamilton picked up assists on the goal.
“We’ve kind of been pressing a lot on crashing the net and playing a little bit of a grittier game without our high-end guys out of the lineup,” Bastian said post-game. “Good play by Hamilton, I think Haula got a stick on it and I happened to be in the right spot.”
In the opening minutes of the third period, New Jersey got its first power play of the game when Sidney Crosby was sent to the box for tripping. 41 seconds into the man-advantage, Erik Haula was called for tripping setting up over a minute of 4-on-4 hockey. During this time, Jesper Bratt scored his eight of the season to give the Devils their first lead of the game, 3-2. Luke Hughes and Curtis Lazar picked up assists, and the secondary helper was Lazar’s 100th NHL point. Bratt’s goal ended a five-game streak where he didn’t score.
Halfway through the third, the Devils would score two goals in 20 seconds to take a 5-2 lead. Ondrej Palat intercepted a pass and headed up ice quickly. After waiting for support, Palat passed to Mercer who was behind the goal. Mercer quickly passed it to Holtz who buried the opportunity. Not long after, Jesper Bratt found Tyler Toffoli who capitalized on his opportunity and scored his ninth of the year. The score would stand and the Devils saw a solid 60 minute effort to pick up the victory.
Forward Timo Meier was a game-time decision and did not play against the Penguins. Following the game, Ruff gave an update on the forward's status.
“When we get back to New Jersey we’ll get a better update," Ruff shared. "We know he’s going to be out short-term and we’ll find out how long that’ll be.”
