PITTSBURGH _ Ray Shero may never make as good a trade as when he acquired Taylor Hall from the Oilers for defenseman Adam Larsson prior to last season.
That's not a knock on any of the other deals Shero has made as the Devils' general manager, such as the two recent ones he made before Monday's NHL trade deadline. It's just an acknowledgement of how well Hall is playing.
Hall had a goal and an assist as the Devils beat the Penguins, 3-2, on Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena. Hall extended his NHL-best point streak to 15 games, tying the Devils' all-time mark, while matching his career high with his 27th goal.
Keith Kinkaid, starting for the 12th time in 15 games and matching his career high with his 26th appearance, stopped 36 shots for the Devils (33-22-8), who opened a three-game road trip with their second straight win.
Casey DeSmith, recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL) on Monday with No. 1 goalie Matt Murray out indefinitely after suffering a concussion during Monday's practice, stopped 35 shots for the Penguins (36-24-4).
Stefan Noesen, tipping Andy Greene's sharp-angle shot from the left boards past DeSmith at the near post, scored the winner at 5:01 of the third period.
Newly-acquired Patrick Maroon was not in the lineup after taking a red-eye flight from San Jose to meet his new teammates in Pittsburgh after general manager Ray Shero sent a third-pick in 2019 and 22-year-old forward prospect J.D. Dudek to the Oilers on Monday for the physical forward.
The game did mark Michael Grabner's second in the Devils' lineup after Shero acquired him from the rival Rangers on Thursday for a second-round pick in 2018 and 20-year-old Russian defense prospect Yegor Rykov.
"When the GM makes those moves, it's a sign he believes in the team," Devils coach John Hynes said. "The guys certainly earned it."
Shero also acquired defenseman Sami Vatanen, playing on the top pair with Greene and who came into Tuesday leading the Devils with 21:43 of average ice time, from the Ducks on Nov. 30 for Adam Henrique.
"Patrick Maroon is a huge pickup, Sami Vatanen is a huge pickup," defenseman Ben Lovejoy said. "Grabner is another weapon for our team. Our management is always trying to make our team better. Now we have to go out and prove them right."
But the team's biggest weapon, as it has been all season, is Hall.
Hall's 27th goal of the season came on the power play to give the Devils a 2-1 lead at 4:25 of the second period. The rebound of Damon Severson's shot off the crossbar ricocheted directly to Hall low in the right circle.
Hall also had 27 goals for the Oilers in 2011-12 and in 2013-14, when he set a career high with 80 points. That is well within reach for Hall this season as he has 68 points in 58 games.
The Penguins tied the game at 2 at 17:02 of the second period as defenseman Matt Hunwick chipped Jake Guentzel's feed from the right past Kinkaid.
The Penguins had taken a 1-0 lead at 8:17 of the first period as Sidney Crosby collected his own rebound to beat Kinkaid, with the goal surviving a challenge from Hynes that Crosby interfered with Kinkaid at the top of the blue paint.
Grabner rang a shot off the right post from the slot at 9:35 and the Devils tied the game at 1 at 12:19 as Palmieri sent the puck under DeSmith's pads from the left circle. Hall collected the secondary assist to match the team record for longest point streak first set by Patrik Elias in 1999-2000 and then matched by Brian Gionta in 2005-06.
Hall actually now has a point in each of the last 22 games he's played _ with 15 goals and 17 assists in that span _ but the NHL does not recognize that as a continuous streak because Hall missed three games prior to the All-Star break with an injured right thumb.
