Devils 5, Penguins 2: An offensive explosion

Led by Timo Meier and Dawson Mercer, the Devils put five past Tristan Jarry en route to a big two points.

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A few observations following New Jersey’s 5-2 win over Pittsburgh:

Allen continues to shine

Jake Allen was one of the best players on the ice, if not the best, for the third time in as many starts. He was exceptional from the word go.

I thought the Devils were the better team for much of the night but it had nothing to do with their defensive play. It wasn’t very good. Quite frankly, it was bad.

They gave up a ton of chances all night long. There were odd-man rushes, there were unmarked players making deflections, and there were plenty of flurries in front of the net. It was a very chaotic game in their own zone.

There were a ton of sequences where Allen had to make saves out of structure and get the job done on the scramble drill, so to speak. He was flopping like a fish out of water, making road hockey-like saves look effortless.

The first couple of games he showed a lot of composure, stabilizing the boat when it was rocky and bringing an element of calmness to the team. Last night was just full chaos.

He had to throw caution to the wind and get the job done by any means necessary. It wasn’t a game where he could simply rely on the fundamentals and quiet things down.

The cat was out of the bag and there was no getting it back in. Allen simply had to rely on instinct and he did a great job of that.

He stopped 36-38, posting a .944 save percentage or better for the third straight game. The Devils got what they deserved offensively – I’ll get to that – but the game could’ve been a whole lot sweatier if Allen wasn’t so good.

I don’t know about you but I think the Devils should feel pretty good having Allen signed for another season at a $1.925 million cap hit. He very much looks like someone who can provide ~35 games of quality hockey.

The Devils were electric offensively