3 Thoughts: Devils Smother Penguins; Ground & Pound; Greasy Goals

NEWARK— The Pittsburgh Penguins entered Saturday night against the New Jersey Devils feeling pretty good about themselves. They won their last two games and were 7-2-1 in their last 10 games. However, they couldn’t come up for air as the Devils smothered them in all three zones, limiting them to just twelve shots through 60 minutes.

Let’s get to how it happened.

Devils Recap

Either the Devils had a weak start or the Penguins were strong out of the gate. Regardless, the scoreless first period didn’t bring anything but broken plays and penalties through the opening 20 minutes.

The second period nearly went the same way as the first. However, Stefan Noesen recorded his 15th goal of the season—a career high—redirecting a pass from Nico Hischier on Tristan Jarry’s back door for a 1-0 lead.

As the Devils do in most of their third periods lately, they put the finishing touches on their opponent, getting goals from Nico Hischier and Timo Meier (empty-net) to secure two points in a 3-0 win.

MORE: What Sidney Crosby Thinks About Jack Hughes & the Devils (+)

Jacob Markstrom had a light workload tonight, recording his second shutout of the season amid 12 saves.

3 Thoughts

Choppy Start

Lately, the first period hasn’t gone the Devils’ way. In some instances, they’ve been strong and unlucky. In other instances, they’ve been weak and have fallen behind.

Neither was the case Saturday night.

The Devils just lacked chemistry in the early goings of their tilt with the Penguins. It seemed as though they couldn’t get any chemistry going early and failed to connect on passes or get any sort of sustained offensive possession in the Penguins’ end of the ice.

Perhaps, the basketball game earlier in the afternoon had something to do with the ice quality, as both teams appeared to struggle to handle the puck.

Regardless, the Penguins seemed to overcome the obstacle and pressured the Devils in their own end at even strength. Whereas the Devils only created a few low-danger chances in very small spurts.

The Devils have only scored one goal in the first period in their last six games.

Greasy Goals

It seemed like the only way anyone was going to score in this one was by getting greasy, and Stefan Noesen understood the assignment.

Noesen has made a home for himself at the top of the opposition’s crease this season, and that’s exactly where he scored his 15th goal of the season. It’s a new career high for the Devils forward with 46 games remaining this season.

With neither side of the ice really able to create any sort of sustained pressure, Nico Hischier maintained puck possession along the far wall. The Devils captain quickly changed direction on his edges, juking rookie defenseman Owen Pickering to a vulnerable position. Hischier fed Noesen at the top of Jarry’s crease for an easy tap-in to finally break a scoreless tie with 2.5 minutes remaining in the middle frame.

Hischier’s second period tally was similar. With the puck loose at the top of Jarry’s crease, Noesen battled with Ryan Shea for position, and Hischier scooped up the loose puck and found twine to double the Devils’ lead.

READ: Why We’re Not Worried About the Devils’ Recent Lack of Scoring

Rather than the high-speed and skill the Devils typically win with, New Jersey played a defensive, ground, and pound game Saturday against the veteran Penguins club.

Whatever It Takes

The most impressive thing about the Devils this season is their ability to win in multiple different ways.

Want to play a high-speed, high-skill game? That’s their bread & butter.

Keeping it close in a defensive tilt? Can do that too.

Engaging in a physical, emotional battle? Check mate, they’ve got some killers out there.

Saturday’s game saw more of the latter two points. Brenden Dillon certainly mixed it up in multiple instances with Michael Bunting who was taking liberties trying to agitate on the ice.

He denied the Devils defenseman in a game of fisticuffs on multiple occasions.

Even Noesen had to get physical, as he did with Penguins defenseman Riley Shea in the second period, battling for net-front presence.

“I saw red,” Noesen explained. “I don’t know what happened. We were just going toe to toe there. And I actually thought I was about to fight… if you saw some choice words out of my mouth, yeah, that was directed at one person in particular.”

The Devils are a Swiss-army knife this season. They’ve proven that they can win however they want, even when they’re not playing at their peak.

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