Devils Drop 3-2 Loss to Penguins | GAME STORY

The Devils late charge in the third period came up short in a 3-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins Sunday at Prudential Center.
Janne Kuokkanen and Nathan Bastian (power play) scored for New Jersey, and Andreas Johnsson had a breakaway stopped in the final seconds of the contest. Goaltender Jon Gillies made 19 saves in his Devils debut.
Teddy Blueger (shorthanded), Danton Heinen and Mike Matheson scored for Pittsburgh.
"I think you saw the energy was better tonight than last night and lasted longer through the game," head coach Lindy Ruff said. "A couple plays with the puck that cost us again, the difference maker in the game. We cleaned up a lot of it and had a great opportunity late in the game, a couple seconds left to tie it. But again, we've got to stay away from getting too frustrated."
The Devils losing streak is now six games.

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WHAT'S NEXT
The Devils finish their home-and-home series with the Penguins with a game in Pittsburgh Tuesday night. The game can be seen on MSG+ and heard on the Devils Hockey Network, including right here at NewJerseyDevils.com. Puck drop is 7:08 p.m. ET.
Tickets are still available. Click here to purchase.
Here are some observations from the game...
- The Devils' first goal of the game came on a nice re-direct play by Janne Kuokkanen at the crease on a shot by Ty Smith. But the most impressive part of the play was Smith backpedaling into his own zone against a rush and batting a pass by Teddy Blueger out of the air and head manning it up ice. It would eventually end up back on Smith's stick and his shot was tipped for the tally. - The power play looked as impressive as it had all season long on its first possession. The club nearly played all two minutes in the offensive zone. The puck movement was crisp. They won all the puck/wall battles. And generated shots on goal from the point by Dougie Hamilton or the circles from Pavel Zacha and Jack Hughes. The Devils got the puck behind Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry, but couldn't converge quick enough to score. However… - The Devils surrendered their league-leading sixth shorthanded goal. Once again, it came on disconnected play at the blue line that resulted in a breakaway opportunity for forward Teddy Blueger, who scored. For as good as the Devils looked on creating those power-play chances, it all goes for naught if they can't play disciplined enough to eliminate those shorthanded goals, and it seems they've been giving up breakaways almost every game.

"It was an ill-advised decision," Ruff said. "We knew where our outs were. A high-risk pass that turned into an opportunity going the other way."

- The Devils power play had a different look tonight. Net-front extraordinaire Nathan Bastian joined the unit. His tipped goal late in the third period cut it to a 3-2 game. It was Bastian's first-career power-play goal, and his first-career power-play minutes. Bastian's brilliance snapped Pittsburgh 15-game streak of not allowing a power-play goal.

"We're looking for somebody big. He played a lot of net-front in Binghamton. He's good at it," Ruff said. "We're continuing to work at it."

- Gillies was the sixth different goalie to suit up for the Devils this season, tying a franchise record. And it's not even January. - Marián Studenič has been a different player since being recalled a few days ago. He's played with great energy and pace, has used his speed to create advantages and has been a shot of life into the lineup. And in this game, Studenic even drew a penalty - on Penguins captain Sidney Crosby no less - for a Devils power play. He's making the most of his opportunity. - For the second game in a row, Studenic set up fellow rookie Dawson Mercer with a shot right at the crease with a beautiful pass. Mercer was stopped on both occasions, but still brilliant plays. Mercer returned the favor as they played give-and-give-and-give-and-go with Studenic getting a shot at the crease. The two of them have some instant chemistry. - Speaking of making an impression, opponents are well aware anytime Mason Geertsen is on the ice. Last Thursday he was part of a late-game brawl in the final seconds against Vegas. He hilariously told Detroit's Tyler Bertuzzi to "go get vaccinated." Against Pittsburgh he drew the ire of the Penguins, throwing a crushing hit against Dominik Simon and even taking a butt end of the stick from Tristan Jarry, which drew the unusual penalty of "butt ending."