NEWARK, N.J. _ You had to know that this one wasn't going to come easy.
The Devils are still looking to secure their first postseason berth since 2012, but they're already playing playoff-type hockey. Thursday's game against the playoff-bound Pittsburgh Penguins had that sort of feel to it, and if this is a test to see if the Devils are ready for hockey's biggest stage, they nearly passed.
In front of a sellout crowd, the Devils managed to salvage a point in a 4-3 overtime loss to Pittsburgh. Sidney Crosby scored just 19 seconds into the bonus period. The Devils now have 88 points with the Florida Panthers (85 points) hot on their trail.
A sellout crowd had the Rock rockin' as Kyle Palmieri, Taylor Hall and Blake Coleman scored goals and Keith Kinkaid made 31 saves.
The Devils finished the season series 3-0-1 against the defending Stanley Cup champs.
Tied 3-3 in the final minutes of regulation, Kinkaid made a flurry of saves from short range to keep the game tied and send it into overtime. It was the second time in four games played between the Metropolitan Division opponents they needed bonus time to decide the outcome.
The Devils had the advantage after a beauty of a backhander by Blake Coleman early in the third period. The third line of Coleman, Travis Zajac and Stefan Noesen excelled in shutting down the Penguins' top line all night, but when given the chance to create some offense themselves, they created a lead.
A little over five minutes into the third, Zajac fed Coleman who blitzed to the net and used some fancy stickwork to get a shot off on Matt Murray. The goalie stopped it but couldn't control the rebound and Coleman backhanded it high over a sprawled-out Murray on second effort to give the Devils a 3-2 lead.
But Patric Hornqvist scored off a deflection in front a few minutes later and yet again, the game was knotted.
The Devils were sluggish to start the second period and coughed up a goal to Kris Letang 6:59 into the period. They struggled to hang on to the puck and let Pittsburgh skate all over them. Their passing was sloppy and they managed just three shots on goal until late in the period when finally they were sparked by a good shift by the third line and the top line drew a penalty to put them on the power play.
Hall capitalized for his 34th of the season a minute into the power play, tying it at 2-2 at the 14:41 mark. With Patrick Maroon screening Murray on the power play, Hall skated untouched into the circle and launched a wrister that banked off the post and into the net.
With Jesper Bratt a healthy scratch, the streaking Palmieri was moved up to the top line to capitalize on his offense. The move was effective, as the right wing gave the Devils a momentary lead at 12:19 in the first, finishing off a series started by Nico Hischier, who won a key puck battle with Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel closing in on him.
But just 25 seconds later, the Penguins raced down the ice and Hornqvist found a net-crashing Conor Sheary with a crossing feed to even it up at 1-1.
The Devils continued to shut down Pittsburgh's league-leading power play on Thursday night, killing off two minor penalties. The Penguins finished the season 0-for-7 with the man-advantage against New Jersey, which is almost unheard of for a team who came into the game converting on nearly 26 percent of their chances.
