The New Jersey Devils headed into Saturday’s matinee against the Pittsburgh Penguins with one simple goal in mind: stay undefeated at home. In a tight-knit, spirited affair, they did so — their seventh home victory — in a thrilling 2-1 shootout effort.
Related: Devils Remain Undefeated at Home, Besting the Penguins 2-1 in a Shootout
Jake Allen Shines
Jake Allen, after a blazing hot start, had cooled down a bit with losses in his last two. Today against the Penguins, he got back to his earlier form as he was completely dialed in.
While he wasn’t tested a ton, he made all of the key stops and his rebound control was top tier. He also made a highlight-reel diving poke check in overtime to turn away a high danger chance and ensure the game got to a shootout.
The only goal against was a deflection that ricocheted off Ondrej Palat’s shoulder and in. Nothing he could’ve done about that.
When all was said and done, Allen stopped 33 of 34 (.971%) including a perfect shootout, thwarting Bryan Rust and Sidney Crosby back-to-back. Not too shabby.
Put a pitchfork in this one!! Jake Allen makes the final stop on Sidney Crosby to keep the @NJDevils a perfect 7-0-0 at The Rock!@DonLagreca | @KenDaneykoMSG | #NJDevils pic.twitter.com/HdJZ7fWgso
— Devils on MSG (@DevilsMSGN) November 8, 2025
Earlier on, Brenden Dillon leveled Thomas Novak and then fought Anthony Mantha. Nico Hischier also blocked a shot with his face. Allen, as the leader he is, immediately deflected credit to the team in front of him.
“Dilly’s fight, Nico’s blocking shots with his head, you can’t take that stuff for granted. It pays off,” Allen said.
Successfully Staying Out of the Box
Prior to puck drop, head coach Sheldon Keefe said, “A huge focal point today is to stay out of the box…I think there are over 4,000 points that are on that first unit power play.”
Coming in, the Penguins power play was first in the league at 35.9%, but even better lately: clicking at a whopping 54.5% over their last four games.
Despite being shorthanded the 10th-most times per game (3.36), the Devils visited the sin bin just once when Stefan Noesen went off for a hook; they killed the subsequent penalty with relative ease.
Not only is that a definite positive and step in the right direction…they might not have walked away with any points if they didn’t improve in that regard. “I hated the penalty that we did take, but I like that it was only one and the penalty kill was up to the task,” said Keefe.
Avoiding unnecessary penalties will keep them in nearly every single game.
Nico Hischier: The Right Captain
When Hischier blocked the shot in his head/face area, he seemed to be bleeding a good amount. He didn’t waste any time: he immediately got up, headed right down the tunnel for repairs, and came back as quickly as possible, missing just 5:37 total.
Crosby, who was primarily matched against Hischier, generated just one high danger scoring chance and 0.11 expected goals, according to Natural Stat Trick. Hischier dominated him in the faceoff dot, too: winning 9 of 13 (69.2%).
In all actuality, Hischier’s had many better days. He generated virtually zero offense today, as Crosby and the Penguins’ relentless pressure similarly kept Hischier at bay. But that is why Hischier sets himself apart from the rest. Even though he was fighting it a bit, he weathered the storm — against one of the NHL’s best players, mind you — and did many of the little things right to still help his team win a hockey game.
Honorable Mention: An Injury-Free Night
The Devils had already lost 74 man-games to injury and are down their top three right-shot defensemen in Brett Pesce, Dougie Hamilton and Johnathan Kovacevic. While they had the Hischier scare, they made it the entire contest without losing a player, which should feel like a victory in of itself.
Moving Forward
The Devils will look to keep their home undefeated streak going against the New York Islanders on Monday night (7:00 PM EDT).
