Penguins home run ends at 11

the Penguins up, 1-0 — came off the rush from just above the left circle.

“They force [turnovers], so they’re going to pressure the puck, and we’ve got to make good plays under pressure,” Crosby said. “Just one of those games. It was going to come down to turnovers, and both teams were trying to play pretty much the same game. They did it better tonight.”

They did it a lot, too. The Devils threw 38 shots on Casey DeSmith over the course of the game. That’s the most shots the Penguins have allowed since, well, their previous game against the Devils.

“They’re fast, they play with a lot of pace,” DeSmith said. “They know how to create rushes, for sure. Then, when they get the rushes, they tend to execute them pretty well. Definitely a tough challenge, and I wish I kept it to two this time.”

The way Sullivan saw it, though, DeSmith’s teammates didn’t do him many favors.

“I don’t think we played as tight a game as we need to play,” Sullivan said. “I thought there were moments in the game where we were trying to outscore them, instead of just trying to outplay them. That’s a lesson, I think, that we have to learn from this game tonight.”

And, while the Penguins didn’t do enough to shut down New Jersey Tuesday night, multiple players said the Devils, for as young and quick as they are, can really turn the screws defensively when they need to.

That’s exactly what they did in the final 14:59, after Stefan Noesen’s deflection goal over DeSmith’s shoulder put them ahead.

“They defend really well,” said Derick Brassard, who played 16:58 with two shots on goal in his Penguins debut.

“That’s probably the thing that we noticed from our group. They’re really committed to play defense. They have pretty good structure out there.”

The loss left the Penguins just two points ahead of the Devils for third place in the Metropolitan Division. The teams have two games remaining over the final 18 games of this season — March 23 in Pittsburgh and March 29 at New Jersey.

And maybe four to seven more after that.

“They’re a team that we’re close with in the standings, and it’ll be a fight here to the end,” Crosby said. “We’ve got to have consistent effort from here on in.”