Photo: Andrew MacLean
After winning two straight games and looking to extend the streak to three, Jacob Markstrom and the Devils shutout the Penguins on Saturday, December 21st, at Prudential Center. The Devils had a three-game winning streak before taking a 4-2 loss in Columbus on Thursday, so it was an incredible comeback for New Jersey. The Penguins only had 12 shots on goal the whole game, and Markstrom made the 12 saves for his second shutout of this season. Tristan Jarry kept the Penguins in there, making a total of 25 saves. Stefan Noesen, Nico Hischier, and Timo Meier each scored for the Devils to help secure two points. The Penguins head home to Pittsburgh on Monday to take on the Philadelphia Flyers, and the Devils will be hosting the New York Rangers on Monday.
Penguins Lineup:
Rakell - Crosby - Rust
Bunting - Malkin - Glass
Beauvillier - O'Connor - Tomasino
Nieto - Lizotte - Acciari
Pickering - Letang
Grzelcyk - Karlsson
Joseph - Shea
Jarry
Nedeljkovic
Devils Lineup:
Palat - Hughes - Bratt
Meier - Hischier - Noesen
Cotter - Haula - Mercer
Tatar - Dowling - Bastian
Dillon - Hamilton
Siegenthaler - Kovacevic
Hughes - Pesce
Markstrom
Allen
Despite it being a scoreless opening frame, Jacob Markstrom made an amazing save on Sidney Crosby off the right post, diving to his left and making a glove stop at 16:18.
Stefan Noesen struck the game's first goal late into the second period with 2:28 on the clock to grab his 15th goal of the season to put the Devils ahead 1-0. Noesen took a backhanded pass in the slot from Nico Hischier, who spun away from Owen Pickering along the right wing half boards before making the pass after he received the puck from Timo Meier who took it out of the neutral zone when he collected the puck along the left boards after it bounced out from Rickard Rakell and Noesen.
At 13:20 of the third, Jacob Markstrom made another incredible save when he denied Philip Tomasino, who had been skating down the slot, with a left pad save. Nico Hischier pushed it to 2-0 not long after the save on Tomasino at 12:13 for his 17th goal of the season with a snap shot on the right post while Stefan Noesen and Ryan Shea were jostling for position in the slot after Brendan Dillon missed his initial shot from a sharp angle, shot again as Noesen fell to the ice and wasn't able to find the back of the net, and Tristan Jarry made a save before Hischier found the back of the net. Timo Meier sealed it with 2:28 left to play when he scored an empty-net goal for his 12th goal of the season and his third goal in the past five games for the 3-0 final.
Jacob Markstrom on the trajectory of the Devils' year, and how much he's seeing the defensive area develop from a goaltender's perspective: "I think our whole team, the way we've been going, we had a good start in Prague, then came home, and it was little rougher and a little adversity, and I thought, you know, it takes a while to build what the coaches want and a lot of new guys, but I think we've got something good going, and we've got to keep building on this," - "I think it's huge. I mean, for me, not only the defensemen, but everyone is making the game really easy for me, and you kind of expect where the puck is and where the shot is coming from. So, they're helping me be able to cut the ice in half and not have to chase too much east to west. It makes it easy to be blocking shots, taking away sticks, and it's fun battling out there with them."
Tristan Jarry on Nico Hischier's goal, and a goaltender's perspective when there are so few shots on goal for a better part of 50 minutes: "I was just trying to cover it like you said. I was trying and there were skates and bodies in front. I just kept reaching for it, and there was a point where I just thought I had to kind of... not retreat, but just get back up and show my body in case it went left or right, and just as I was coming up, they were able to poke it through," - "It's a tight game. It was a tight-checking game for almost 45 minutes. I thought we were doing a really good job defending, and so were they. They were using the middle of the ice really well, attacking us, and I think that's just where they were able to generate a lot of their opportunities through the middle of the ice and just putting pucks on the net in the third period. I think they were able to get to the net front and just battle hard, and I think we could have done a better job in the third period of that."
Notes:
- Jacob Markstrom made a total of 12 saves for New Jersey for his second shutout of the season, as well as the 22nd shutout of his NHL career.
- Tristan Jarry made a total of 25 saves for Pittsburgh.
- This had been the first game where P.O Joseph was in the lineup after the Penguins got him back from the St. Louis Blues in a trade.
- Owen Pickering did not return to the game after taking a hit from Paul Cotter in the second period at 14:11.
- The Devils are 4-1-0 in their past five games, and the Penguins lost in regulation for the first time in five games (3-1-1).
- Nico Hischier had a three-point night, recording a goal and picking up a pair of assists. His assist on Stefan Noesen's goal was his 30th of the season. ...Noesen hit a new career-high in goals when he scored his 15th goal of the season. ...Hischier has picked up 80 points in a calendar year for the first time in his NHL career (35-45--80). Patrik Elias is the last Devils captain to record 80 points in a calendar year (82 in 2006).
- Timo Meier picked up a goal and an assist.
- The Devils allowing 12 shots on goal in this game is a season-low. In their past six games, they've allowed just 100 shots. That is just 16.7 against per game.
Photo: Andrew MacLean
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