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New Jersey Devils Fall 2-0 in Pittsburgh

By Chris Kowalchuk

Jan 26, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang (58) and New Jersey Devils right wing Kyle Palmieri (21) reach for the puck during the third period at the CONSOL Energy Center. The Penguins won 2-0. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 26, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang (58) and New Jersey Devils right wing Kyle Palmieri (21) reach for the puck during the third period at the CONSOL Energy Center. The Penguins won 2-0. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Devils fall 2-0 tonight in Pittsburgh. Lets take a look how it happened.

First Period:

The first period opened very strong for the Devils. They really came to play, and were dominating most of the first period. They had a few excellent scoring chances on Fleury, the best coming on a 2-1 from rookie forward, Joe Blandisi. Blandisi had a wide open net, and just couldn’t beat Fleury. Just after this, Kyle Palmieri took a tripping penalty off of the faceoff. On the ensuing Pittsburgh powerplay, Sidney Crosby notched his 17th of the season to give Pittsburgh the 1-0 lead. It was a Hornqvist shot from the blue line, with traffic in front, and Schneider just couldn’t find the rebound. The Devils had a few more chances but couldn’t beat Fleury. The shots in the first were 11-7 in favor of New Jersey.

Second Period:

In the second period, the Devils didn’t show up. I can’t remember one great chance that the Devils had for the entire period. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh was buzzing. If not for Cory Schneider making a few remarkable saves this game would have been very out of hand entering the third period. The Penguins, yet again, would beat Cory Schneider on a snipe over Cory Schneider’s left shoulder. The Devils would finish the period behind 2-0 and being out-shot 16-6 in the period and 23-17 in the game.

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Third Period:

New Jersey basically didn’t show up in the third. They hit two posts in the period, one on a tip by Bobby Farnham, and the other on a scorching slap shot on the powerplay by Michael Cammalleri. Other than that, the Devils basically rolled over and died. Eric Gelinas couldn’t hit the net if his life depended on it but tonight was a team effort. The game went final at 2-0. Shots in the third period were 8-8 which made it 31-25 for the game.

Thoughts

The Devils offense was non-existent tonight. They had 25 shots on Fleury, but outside of the first ten minutes of the first period, and a couple of posts in the third they were basically on their heels all night long. When a team can’t generate a forecheck, the puck is likely going to be in your own zone for long periods of time, and chances are the puck is going to end up in your own net. However, when your goalie is an all-star and top 5 in the league it doesn’t happen as often. Cory Schneider has been a godsend for this team and is a great part of its success. The Devils special teams was also atrocious tonight. Aside from the last powerplay of the game, they weren’t able to generate, much on it, and the Penguins first goal came on their own powerplay.

It’s really a shame that the Devils win streak came in this game to Pittsburgh. This would have been a huge two points to jump the Islanders, and also create space between themselves and the Penguins. All in all you have to be thrilled with where this team is at during this point of the season. I’ll have a full article coming tomorrow or Thursday on my thoughts from the first half of the season.

Let me know what you guys thought of the game tonight on twitter @chriskayy89

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