NEWARK, N.J. — Aside from sleeping in past the first minute of play, the Penguins were more than primed for their matinee meet-up with the Devils. What they weren’t prepared for was puck luck working against them.
Dougie Hamilton scored a power-play goal in overtime to nullify an otherwise valiant effort by the Penguins as Pittsburgh was outlasted by New Jersey in a 2-1 overtime loss on the road Sunday afternoon at the Prudential Center.
Jack Hughes commenced the afternoon’s scoring with his team-leading 30th goal of the season past Tristan Jarry 56 seconds into the contest, which moved him into a three-way tie with Alex Ovechkin and Bo Horvat for sixth-most in the NHL. Hughes stopped on a dime from one of the face-off dots before roofing a snipe on Jarry’s glove side.
Sidney Crosby drew the Penguins back even during some 4-on-4 hockey later in the first period. Offsetting penalties on New Jersey’s Jonas Siegenthaler and Pittsburgh’s Rickard Rakell opened up the ice for Crosby, who rifled a one-timer from the high slot past Vitek Vanecek five minutes after Hughes’ goal.
The pair of first-period goals provided all the action in the box score until the third period, but the Penguins dominated in the middle frame, outshooting the Devils by a margin of 10-2. Pittsburgh ended the period on the power play courtesy of a high-sticking call against Damon Severson, but the Penguins may as well have been up an attacker already based on their relentless forecheck and plethora of close-range opportunities.
Ryan Poehling nearly gave the Penguins the lead a couple minutes into the final frame. Vanecek came off his line to make a save, gifting Poehling plenty of netting to aim for. But, somehow, the netminder recovered to get a piece of Poehling’s shot, deflecting it off the crossbar and keeping it out of the net.
Bryan Rust had an opportunity to put the visitors out in front, too, later in the third period. Jason Zucker pressured three Devils, generated a turnover and dished off to Rust, but the latter’s shot was off the mark. Like the second frame, the final period of regulation also came without any scoring and prompted overtime.
In the extra period, Marcus Pettersson originally thought he was the unlikely hero when he beat Vanecek for what would’ve been his first goal of the year. But the score was ruled out due to too many men on the ice, which then gifted New Jersey the 4-on-3 power play during which it scored the game-winner.
ICE CHIPS
— The Penguins activated Poehling from injured reserve prior to Sunday’s game. Poehling’s last game before Sunday also came against the Devils on Dec. 30. Poehling had missed 12 of Pittsburgh’s previous 13 games with an upper-body injury.
— Jarry started in net for the second time in three days after returning from a lower-body injury that sidelined him for seven games. Jarry’s workload was much lighter than on Friday against Ottawa, when he made 44 saves, one shy of career high.
— Ty Smith was a healthy scratch for the second game in a row, which coincided with Jeff Petry’s return from long-term injured reserve. Smith had skated in nine games for the Penguins since he was called up on Dec. 28.
— Crosby’s first-period score was his team-leading 22nd of the season, but it also ended a season-high five-game goalless streak for the captain.
— Petry assisted on Crosby’s goal, giving him back-to-back games with points since returning from his wrist injury.
STAT N’AT
5 – Hughes’ goal was the fifth opening-minute score Pittsburgh has allowed this season. After Sunday, the Penguins are 3-2 when doing so this season. Each game where Pittsburgh has allowed an opening-minute goal has come after Thanksgiving.
COMING UP
The Penguins have Monday off after a stretch of three games and two practices in six days. Pittsburgh will be in action when it hosts the Florida Panthers at 7 p.m. Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena.
