Mercer's First-Career Trick Pummels Penguins | GAME STORY

The Devils were tricked out in their green and red heritage jerseys Tuesday night. But that wasn't the only thing tricky.
Dawson Mercer scored his first-career hat trick as the Devils pummeled the Penguins, 5-1, at Prudential Center.
"If you look at where he scored the goals from, within six feet of the net, he goes to the hard area," head coach Lindy Ruff said. "He's slippery, he's snake-ish. He gets around there. He can manuever in a tight piece of ice."
Mercer, who now has 27 goals on the season, scored a goal in each period to lead the Devils onslaught.
"I knew going into the third (period) that I had two," Mercer said. "Three of them all one touches, all within a foot of the net. It's working for me. I'll keep on going there until it stops."
Dougie Hamilton and Timo Meier also added goals, while goaltender Vitek Vanecek made 22 saves.
Bryan Rust scored the lone Penguins goal.
New Jersey swept the season series against Pittsburgh, 4-0, for the first time since 2009-10 (6-0-0).

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The Devils end a two-game homestand when they host Columbus Thursday night. The game can be seen on MSGSN2 and heard on the Devils Hockey Network, including right here at NewJerseyDevils.com. Puck drop is 7:08 p.m. ET.
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Here are some observations from the game...
- It was a great play by forward Tomas Tatar that helped setup Mercer's first of three. The puck was along the boards when Tatar and Penguins defenseman Jeff Petry were in a race. Tatar won the wall play, chipping the puck past Petry and ahead to Nico Hischier for a 2-on-1.

Hischier made a nice flip pass over P.O. Joseph to Mercer, who let the puck contact the ice before batting it into the net. It was his 25th goal of the year.

- Mercer scored his second (26) with under a minute remaining in the season period to seal the game after goalie Tristan Jarry bobbled a puck cover at the crease. He netted the hatty on a broken play after Jarry was knocked out of his net and Mercer easily tapped the puck in over the goal line.

"Guys were saying go get another one. Nico was hoping I was sticking around the net and all I had to do was tap it in."

- Hamilton already set a career high in goal scoring this season, and he just keeps adding to it. He hammered in his 21st of the season (with a little help of a Pittsburgh stick deflection) to open the game's scoring. It was also Hamilton's 72nd point of the year. He smartly pinched to the top of the right circle and Ondrej Palat, who carried around the net, found him for a clean shot. - Meier picked up his 38th goal of the season with a power-play tally during a 5-on-3 advantage. But, really, the credit belongs to Jack Hughes. Meier was setup on his off-side at the post. Hughes kept his head up and still made a perfect pass through the Penguins triangle to Meier for the tap in. Hughes basically shot the puck into the net using Meier's stick. - Forward Nathan Bastian (upper-body) returned to the lineup, playing his first game since March 12.