Devils pad wild-card edge with OT win against Penguins

PITTSBURGH-- Taylor Hall scored 27 seconds into overtime, and the New Jersey Devils extended their lead for an Eastern Conference wild card with a 4-3 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Friday.

Nico Hischier won a defensive-zone battle against Phil Kessel before finding Hall with a stretch pass, which sent him toward Matt Murray on a breakaway, and his wrist shot got through for his 33rd goal of the season.
"You know how much skill they have out there, and you know they're offensive guys and that's how they're going to think," Hall said. "I saw a chance to take off a little bit and get behind them. I was just hoping Nico was going to win his battle and, sure enough, he did."
WATCH: [All Devils vs. Penguins highlights]
Keith Kinkaid made 40 saves for New Jersey (38-28-8), which is three points ahead of the Florida Panthers for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the East having played two more games.
Murray made 30 saves for Pittsburgh (42-27-6), which moved within three points of the Washington Capitals for first place in the Metropolitan Division and one point ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets for second.
Murray called his performance "average." Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said he understood why Murray was critical.
"It's tough to evaluate right after a game like that," Sullivan said. "It's an emotional game. I thought he made some timely saves when the opportunities presented themselves. But certainly, when you don't win, everybody has to take some ownership."
Kinkaid has made 91 saves on 97 shots in three wins against Pittsburgh this season.

"Keith was excellent," Devils coach John Hynes said. "He made some huge saves for us down the stretch. It's difficult to beat a team like Pittsburgh. … They're so dynamic. They have so many weapons in their lineup. You know they're going to get looks at certain times regardless of what you do. Keith came up with some big, big saves."
The Devils took a 3-1 lead with three straight goals in the second period. Brian Dumoulin and Kessel scored third-period goals for the Penguins.
Dumoulin made it 3-2 with a slap shot off a face-off win by Sidney Crosby at 3:13, and Kessel tied it 3-3 wrist shot at 10:52. Kessel has 83 points (30 goals, 53 assists) to surpass his previous NHL career high of 82 (2011-12, Toronto Maple Leafs).

Crosby gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 2:29 of the first period. He deflected a shot from Jamie Oleksiak on Kinkaid before using his right skate to kick the rebound to his stick blade and chip a shot into the net.
Will Butcher, Blake Coleman and Hischier scored in the first 8:54 of the second period to put the Devils ahead 3-1.
Butcher tied it 1-1 at 5:15 with his first goal since Nov. 20 (52 games) and first power-play goal of his rookie season. Coleman gave New Jersey a 2-1 lead at 7:20 by using a one-hand backhand.
Hischier made it 3-1 when John Moore passed to him alone in front.

Goal of the game

Hall's goal 27 seconds into overtime.

Save of the game

Kinkaid's save against Justin Schultz at 16:46 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Coleman's goal at 7:20 of the first period.

They said it

"I think we were excited to play. We were ready. It was just kind of more of a settling into the game and trusting our instincts and getting ready to play. I think our heads and everything were in the right position. It was just a little bit of execution we weren't doing." -- Devils captain Andy Green on responding to a slow start
"We knew we had better [after the second period]. We needed to be more like the first period, and we felt like if we did that, we'd give ourselves a chance to get back in the game. That's what we did. We played with urgency." -- Penguins captain Sidney Crosby
"I think it says a lot about Nico that this is his rookie year. He's 19. He's probably doesn't have as much energy as he would like, but he came out tonight and had a great game. He made plays." -- Devils forward Taylor Hall on linemate Nico Hischier

Need to know

Hall also had two assists to give him 81 points (33 goals, 48 assists), his NHL career high; he had 80 points for the Edmonton Oilers in 2013-14. He is the first Devils player to have 80 points in a season since Ilya Kovalchuk had 83 (37 goals, 46 assists) in 2011-12. … Devils forward Pavel Zacha returned after missing six games with an upper-body injury. He had one assist in 12:59. … Penguins forward Dominik Simon returned after missing six games with a lower-body injury. He had had two hits in 5:39. … Butcher has three goals this season.

What's next

Devils: Host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; MSG+ 2, SUN, NHL.TV)
Penguins: Host the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday (12:30 p.m. ET; NBC, TVAS, NHL.TV)