The Devils appeared to score at 18:06 of the third when the puck crossed the goal line, but the referee stopped play prior to the puck entering the net.
"The referee said he blew his whistle," Palmieri said. "The puck was loose. I watched it ... I think it was [Penguins forward Mark Jankowski] go back and pull it out of the net. I don't know what the replay showed, but if he blew his whistle, he blew his whistle, so that's that."
The Devils were 0-for-4 and had one shot on goal on the power play.
"Nothing was really effective on the power play," Palmieri said. "Breakouts, break-ins, puck recoveries, generating opportunities. We have to find a way to be better, but it starts with every guy just going out there and shifting their mentality to make sure we're outworking the penalty kill, because if you don't, you're not going to have good nights like tonight."
Penguins forward Brandon Tanev was a late scratch after sustaining an upper-body injury during warmups. Sullivan said he was being evaluated.
"I kind of knew I had to step up a little bit more and be a little bit more physical (in the absence of Tanev)," Aston-Reese said. "Whenever I got the chance to finish a check, I tried my best to do that."
NOTES:Penguins center Jared McCann returned after missing six games with an upper-body injury; he had one shot on goal in 14:55. … Devils center Pavel Zacha, who returned after missing one game with a lower-body injury, was 11-for-16 on face-offs in 17:35. ... Sullivan passed Eddie Johnston for second on the Penguins all-time wins list (233). Dan Bylsma is first (252). ... Pittsburgh center Evgeni Malkin, who missed his second straight game, is week to week with a lower-body injury.