GAME STORY: Devils 3, Pens 2

NEWARK, NJ -Hockey is a simple game. And the keys to success are also quite simple.
For weeks Devils head coach Lindy Ruff has preached for his team to get to the front of the net, crash the crease and get their "hands dirty."
On Thursday night that formula equated to not just one, not just two, but three goals for New Jersey in a 3-2 victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Prudential Center.

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WHAT'S NEXT
The Devils face the Penguins Saturday afternoon in the second of three straight meetings. You can watch on MSG+ and listen on the Devils Hockey Network,
including right here at NewJerseyDevils.com.
Game time is 1:08 PM ET.
"That's something we've been talking about, getting bodies (in front)," head coach Lindy Ruff said. "When we got some (shots) through we had people there. It's no secret. If we can take the goalie's eyes away, it makes the save a lot tougher."
New Jersey built a 3-0 lead halfway through the game on goals from Jack Hughes, P.K. Subban and Travis Zajac. All three goals had a common theme, a man standing right at the blue paint.
Hughes started the game's scoring halfway through the first period with a dazzling display of stick handling. He collected the puck in the low circle, swung around Penguins defenseman John Marino and cut to the net. Hughes sniped a shot over the shoulder of prone goaltender Tristan Jarry with Kyle Palmieri standing atop the crease.
"I just saw a little bit of room at the top and tried to bank it off his head and put it in the back of the net," said Hughes, whose seven goals already matched his rookie season total in 2019-20. "It was a good shot and I'm happy that it went in."
Hughes fit a three-inch piece of rubber into a five-inch opening. A perfect shot. A shot that only a handful of players in the league can pull off.
"A great goal. It's one of those (goals) where goal-scorers score," Ruff said. "He's missed a lot better opportunities, but found a hole. We needed something good like that to happen, and he needed that."
The Devils followed that up with a power-play goal, their third straight game with a man-advantage tally, from Subban. The veteran defenseman teed up a one-timer from the midpoint that sailed through the five-hole of Jarry. Though it's possible that Jarry never saw the puck as Miles Wood had his 6-foot-2, 195-pound frame blocking the netminder's vision.
New Jersey's third goal was the result of a tipped shot in front by Zajac. Blueliner Damon Severson threw what appeared to be a harmless floater from the blue line toward the goal. It was a harmless rising shot until Zajac, with some masterful hand-eye coordination, changed the puck's trajectory earthbound and into the twine.
At the other end of the ice, goaltender Scott Wedgewood, who was expecting to take in this evening's game as a spectator on bench, was thrust into emergency action right before the drop of the puck.
"(Mackenzie Blackwood) usually takes every shot in warm-up until the three-minute mark, but around mid-four he skated toward me and left the ice," Wedgewood said. "As I was coming back into the room, I got the nod that he wasn't able to go."
All Wedgewood did in response was stop 40 shots, including making 21 saves in the second period alone.
"I thought Wedgewood did a fabulous job for us tonight," Ruff said. "He looked really sharp and was a big part of this win.
"You have to give him a lot of credit. It's one thing to go in when you know you're going in. But to be ready and called upon when you're not the starter and you have 15 minutes to prepare yourself mentally to give your team a good game, and he gave us a good game."
The Devils managed to pull off the victory, their second in as many games, despite losing three key players throughout the night.
Forward Pavel Zacha, who was a game-time decision heading into the contest, was scratched prior to the game as a result of an injury he sustained Tuesday against Buffalo. Blackwood was the projected starter and took part in pre-game warm-up, but was a last-minute scratch. Then forward Nathan Bastian left the game in the second period with an injury.
"No real updates," Ruff said following the game. "Mackenzie (was) just upper-body in warm-up. Bastian suffered an injury that I don't know a lot about yet. Obviously, 'Pav' couldn't make it through morning skate. It elevated some of our players roles during the game."
Despite the shortened bench, the Devils played a near perfect game. The only blemishes were a late power-play goal in the second period by Pittsburgh's Jake Guentzel, which snapped the Devils' run of 16 straight penalty kills, and tally with 4.5 seconds remaining in regulation for Bryan Rust.
But ultimately the fruits of the victory were planted by the team's bench boss.
Ruff preached to his team to get to the net. His players listened, and the results speak for themselves.
"I thought our guys did a great job. Obviously, we were facing adversity," Ruff said. "We were missing a couple of key players. We got a big effort out of a lot of guys that allowed us to win the game, get off to a great start. It was something that we needed."