Devils Drop Second Straight at Home to Penguins

Published: Friday, April 11, 2025

by Ryan Nelke

NEWARK, N.J. — The New Jersey Devils (41-31-7) hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins (33-35-12) on Friday night in a low-stakes game, with both teams’ postseason fates already decided.

As soon as the puck dropped, it seemed as if the Devils were already ahead, as Erik Haula broke loose and scored on a breakaway 15 seconds in. It was Haula’s 10th goal of the season, with Dawson Mercer and Brett Pesce credited with the assists.

Six minutes later, New Jersey struck again when Ondrej Palat redirected Cody Glass’ shot from the point, deflecting it in to give the Devils an early 2-0 lead. Seamus Casey recorded the secondary assist on Palat’s 15th goal of the season.

Despite a rough start for Pittsburgh goaltender Tristan Jarry, he kept the game from getting out of hand with an impressive left pad save on Dawson Mercer in front of the net.

The big stop allowed the Penguins to stay within reach, and they cut the New Jersey lead in half when Evgeni Malkin won a battle near the side of the net and slipped the puck past Jake Allen’s left skate. It was Malkin’s 16th goal of the season, with Kevin Hayes and Erik Karlsson picking up the assists.

The second period began with New Jersey leading 2-1, but that didn’t last long. Just one minute into the frame, Brett Pesce took a penalty, and five seconds into the power play, Valtteri Puustinen scored, sneaking the puck past Allen. Evgeni Malkin and Matt Grzelcyk were credited with the assists.

The rest of the period was relatively quiet, with each team recording just four shots. Just before the horn, Pesce was called for slashing Bryan Rust at center ice. After two periods, the game was tied at 2.

It took a while, but the 2-2 stalemate was finally broken when Sidney Crosby tapped in the go-ahead goal on the power play late in the third period to give the Penguins a 3-2 lead. Bryan Rust and Matt Grzelcyk were each credited with their second assists of the game.

Then, with a minute and a half remaining, Crosby found Rust with a behind-the-back pass, and Rust scored an empty-net goal to seal a 4-2 Pittsburgh win.

When asked if he was concerned about the direction of the team following a second straight loss to a team below .500, head coach Sheldon Keefe showed no sign of worry.

"I think I just talked for the last three minutes about how I liked a lot about our game today. I didn’t like our game against Boston at all ... today, much different story. Lots to like about our game today except for the result,” he said.

The Devils will be back in action Sunday for their penultimate home game of the season against the Islanders at 1 p.m., while the Penguins return home to face the Bruins at 3:30 p.m.

Ryan Nelke can be reached at ryan.nelke@student.shu.edu. 

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