Here are some observations from the game:
• After Bratt scored on the shootout, it was up to Allen to stop Crosby to clinch the Devils’ victory. After several dekes, Allen reached out his left pad and kicked away Crosby’s shot to seal the win.
Allen: “It’s tough with Sid because he takes the same route every time, but he has a million different moves he can do. He comes so slow, so he gives himself time to maneuver. He makes you wait, and he has so many options. You just try to stay with him as long as you can. When you lose your speed like that, it’s hard to move. I’m lucky I got a pad on him.”
• The Devils Russian rookie Arseny Gritsyuk picked up his third goal of the season on a gift from Penguins defenseman Kris Letang. The veteran blueliner had the puck in his own zone when he tried to make a backhand lateral pass in the circles. Gritsyuk intercepted the pass and was all alone on goal. Gritsyuk deked and then went top far corner post and in.
• You might not see a better save this year than the one made by goalie Arturs Silovs late in the second period on Jack Hughes. On the play, Luke Hughes had the puck to the left of the goal. He made a pass all the way across to Jack to the right of the net. Jack lifted a shot at the net but Silovs pushed to his left, split his leg and reached back with his glove to snag the puck. Straight up robbery.
• Brenden Dillon leveled perhaps the biggest hit of the season so far. Pittsburgh’s Thomas Novak was skating with his head down and reaching for a puck near his own blue line. Dillon lined him up and delivered a clean blow to the body. The Penguins Anthony Mantha answered the bell as they both dropped the gloves for some pugilism.
Dillon was rocking a nice shiner after the game.
“My modeling days are long gone … We didn’t have a great start so I was trying to do something to get the guys going. The hit was one thing. The fight after is what happens sometimes after hits. I thought it was clean. I’m glad to see he was able to come back. It’s a part of my game that I’m always going to keep going with.”
• Former Devils defenseman, now Pittsburgh defenseman, Ryan Graves really wanted a goal against his former squad. And he got one, courtesy of some puck luck. Graves, who has spent the majority of the season in the American Hockey League, put a puck on the net from the blue line. The puck hit Ondrej Palat in his chest/shoulder area and then eluded goalie Jake Allen. It was just his second game in the NHL season, and he had to feel good converting on that one.
