Pittsburgh Penguins @ New Jersey 1-3 - 12/29

Forward Jordin Tootoo played less than three minutes and didn't get on the scoresheet, but his New Jersey teammates felt he was the No. 1 star in a 3-1 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Prudential Center on Monday. It was the first win under Scott Stevens and Adam Oates, who were named co-coaches by general manager Lou Lamoriello on Saturday after firing Peter DeBoer on Friday. New Jersey (13-18-7) lost to the New York Rangers 3-1 on Saturday. Tootoo engaged in two second-period fights with Penguins defenseman Robert Bortuzzo, which energized the Devils. New Jersey scored shortly after each fight to take a 2-1 lead. The Devils trailed 1-0 when Tootoo engaged Bortuzzo, who delivered a hit to New Jersey forward Jaromir Jagr when the teams played Dec. 2. Two minutes later, this game was tied. Penguins center Andrew Ebbett was called for boarding at 4:55, and the Devils power play scored on its first shot. Defenseman Marek Zidlicky took a shot from the blue line that was tipped by Dainius Zubrus before Travis Zajac put the rebound past Marc-Andre Fleury at 5:33. Pittsburgh hadn't allowed a power-play goal in its past 17 times shorthanded. Tootoo and Bortuzzo fought again 16:16 into the second period, and the Devils controlled play shortly after. Jagr's goal at 18:40 gave the Devils a 2-1 lead. It was his 126th game-winning goal, extending his NHL record. Defenseman Jon Merrill made an outlet pass to Jagr, who skated from his blue line to the right circle and took a snap shot which went between defenseman Simon Despres' legs and under Fleury's arm. It was Jagr's 711th NHL goal and 1,776th point. He is six goals behind Phil Esposito for fifth on the all-time list. It was the fourth win for the Devils in their past 18 games (4-9-5). Adam Henrique extended the lead to 3-1 in the third period. He took a backhand that was stopped by Fleury, and after took two more whacks at the puck, it went in the net at 5:32. The Penguins (22-9-5) controlled most of the action in the first period but had two shots on goal in the first 12 minutes. They outshot the Devils 9-7 in the first period. Pittsburgh center Sidney Crosby scored a highlight-reel goal at 14:37 of the first period. Forward Chris Kunitz passed to Crosby in the defensive zone, and he skated around New Jersey defenseman Andy Greene before backhanding the puck from inside the right circle behind Cory Schneider for his 11th goal, second in 13 games. The Penguins had chances to take a 2-0 lead in the first period. Forward Rob Klinkhammer passed the puck into the slot from behind the net, but Kunitz was unable to score from point-blank range with 1:20 left. Half a minute later, forward Evgeni Malkin did a spin-o-rama and fed a cross-ice pass to defenseman Derrick Pouliot, whose one-timer was stopped by Schneider. The Penguins are 0-3-1 in their past four games. Devils forward Stephen Gionta sustained a broken hand after blocking a shot in the second period. Lamoriello didn't give a timetable for his return.

Pens Quotes

Sidney Crosby: "We made a few mistakes. Give those guys chances, they are used to playing a pretty patient game. It was a much different game when we had the lead. It opened up a lot. We had the lead but unfortunately couldn't build on it."
Marc-Andre Fleury: "It doesn't happen to us often so it's very frustrating right now."