The New Jersey Devils rebounded from their worst performance of the season with the help of Dawson Mercer, a 21-year-old second-year player who delivered his first career hat trick.
This decisive win also severely dented the Pittsburgh Penguins’ hopes for a 17th consecutive Stanley Cup playoff berth.
Mercer scored three goals, Vitek Vanecek made 22 saves, and the Devils defeated the struggling Penguins 5-1 on Tuesday night. This victory knocked Pittsburgh out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with only four games remaining in the regular season.
The Devils’ dominant display came just two days after they suffered a 6-1 defeat against Winnipeg.
“After that last game, we wanted to ensure we started fast and were ready to go because we didn’t want a repeat of that,” Mercer said, increasing his goal to a career-best 27. “We handled it well, came out strong, and we just kept pushing once we got the early lead.”
Dougie Hamilton and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils, who are three points behind Carolina in the race for first place in the Metropolitan Division. Carolina, which has played one fewer game than New Jersey, won against Ottawa in overtime.
The Devils will most likely have home-ice advantage in a first-round playoff series against the rival New York Rangers.
“We’d love to secure home ice, so we’re taking it one game at a time,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. “Hopefully, we can secure that spot. Destiny is important in our hands.”
With Florida’s win over Buffalo, the Panthers tied with the New York Islanders for the two wild-card spots in the East, one point ahead of Pittsburgh. All three teams have four games left, but none play each other.
Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said his team made too many mistakes against a strong opponent, dropping to 4-7 in their last 11 games.
“We didn’t play well enough and got outplayed,” Sullivan said. “We need to figure out what we can learn from this and apply it to the next game. We have to stay in the fight. We’re still in it.”
Bryan Rust spoiled Vanecek’s bid for a fourth shutout this season, scoring his 20th goal at 6:14 of the third period. Tristan Jarry made 32 saves for the Penguins, whose 16 straight postseason appearances streak is the longest active streak in major North American sports leagues.
Despite being outshot and having to kill off two Penguins power plays, the Devils took a 2-0 lead in the first period with goals from Hamilton and Mercer.
Meier scored on a 5-on-3 power play in the second period off a pass from Jack Hughes. Mercer added another goal with 34 seconds left in the period, backhanding a rebound after Jarry failed to handle a point shot, making it 4-0.
Mercer completed his hat trick early in the third period. After Jarry made a save on a 4-on-1 rush, Nico Hischier got the rebound and found Mercer alone in front for a shot into an empty net, causing hats to rain down on the ice and bringing a big smile to the 21-year-old’s face.
“You look at the three of them, all one touch, all within a foot of the net,” Mercer said, noting his success around the crease this season. “It’s working for me, and I’ll keep going there until it stops.”
Hischier also assisted on Mercer’s first goal during a 2-on-1 rush.
Game Notes:
- The Devils swept the four-game season series against the Penguins. The only other time New Jersey was undefeated in three or more games against Pittsburgh in a season was in 2009-10 when they were 6-0.
- Pittsburgh D Brian Dumoulin left the ice in the first period after taking a big hit from Michael McLeod behind the Penguins’ net but later returned.
UP NEXT:
- Penguins: Host Minnesota on Thursday night.
- Devils: Host Blue Jackets on Thursday night.
