Pens' 5-Goal 3rd Downs Devils | GAME STORY

NEWARK, NJ - The Devils had a 3-1 lead heading into the third period. But Pittsburgh scored five goals in the final frame in a 6-3 victory against New Jersey at Prudential Center Tuesday night.

Erik Karlsson opened the scoring for Pittsburgh. The Devils responded with the next three straight from Timo Meier, Curtis Lazar and Jersper Bratt to take a 3-1 edge into the last period.

The Penguins scored four goals in the third period – two each from Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby – to pull out the win. Rickard Rakell added the other.

"I thought we played a good game for 40 minutes. The last period we pretty much gave it away. It sucks," Meier said. "We need to learn from this right away, but it defnitely stinks."

The Penguins' comeback began when Crosby scored on a power play at 6:48 of the third period to make it a 3-2 game. The Devils said at that point they played the rest of the game on edge.

"I thought we played almost as perfect of a game as you could in the first two periods," interim head coach Travis Green said. "They strike on the power play with a quick gaol and now you're in a game."

The game was tied at 3-3 with under four minutes left in regulation. Goals No. 4 and 5 for Pittsburgh came just 22 seconds apart for the late rally victory.

"Once they made it 3-3 I don't think we took charge enough and they did," Green said. "And we made some mistakes. We made mistakes you can't make at this time of year.

"It's unfortunate with how well we played in the first two periods."

Here are some observations from the game:

• Meier just keeps on humming along. He posted an NHL-best 13 goals in 15 games during the month of March. He followed that up by starting off April hot by scoring in his first game during the current month.

While Meier have gotten a little lucky on his latest goal – his shot deflected off of Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson and in – it was the result of effort. Meier was swarming the entire opening period and had a few high-quality chances. He finally broke through with 16 seconds remaining in the period on the power play. It may have been luck. But it was the result of work.

• I love seeing Meier floating around on the power play. He plays the net-front very effectively. He is also lethal from the halfwall with his one-timer (as evidenced by his goal). And at times he can be a deadly bumper. His rotation creates coverage problems and really plays to his strengths.

• Former Penguin defenseman and current Devil John Marino got a little revenge on his former employer. He helped set up two goals for New Jersey in the contest. On the first, he pinched into the zone and made a nice spin move along the wall to keep possession. Lazar would finish the play. On the second, he intercepted a pass by – none other than – Sidney Crosby. Marino transitioned the puck ahead and Bratt converted on a breakaway.

• Lazar showed some real nice hands on his goal. He was at the top of the crease when he took the pass on his backhand. In tight space, he pulled the puck quickly to his forechand, which was near his back skate. Lazar then tallied with a quick flick of the wrist to lift the puck high and into the net.

• Bratt continues his dominance of the Penguins. With that goal, he now has eight goals and 22 points in 26 career games against Pittsburgh.

• Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler returned to the lineup for the first time since missing nine games with a concussion. He last played March 11, suffering the injury on an elbow by NY Rangers Matt Rempe.

"I was a little rusty at the beginning. After that I was fine," Siegenthaler said. "I was prepared for that. It was good."