Devils Goalie Shares High Praise For Penguins After Shootout Win

New Jersey Devils goalie Jake Allen had high praise for the Pittsburgh Penguins and how good they are.

The Devils edged out a 2-1 shootout win over the Penguins at home on Saturday. Pittsburgh outshot New Jersey 34-to-24, as the Penguins had plenty of chances to score.

However, Allen was stellar in the net, and although the Devils got the win, he believes the Penguins are the real deal.

“In this league, it’s hard to have your best every night, so I think that’s what good teams do, find ways to get through games when you’re not at your best, or maybe the puck’s not staying on your stick,” Allen said postgame on Saturday. “Pittsburgh has a really good team, and they put us on our heels at times. But we didn’t break.”

Allen made 33 saves in the game and also stopped both of the Penguins’ shootout attempts to get the win.

Although the Devils’ goaltender thought the Penguins played well, captain Sidney Crosby felt like the team could have been better.

“We can’t accept just getting one (goal), but sometimes the game’s going to dictate that,” Crosby said. “Sometimes it’s not going to go your way, (but) we’ve just got to continue to play the right way. I thought we did that. We didn’t try to cheat for offense. We had some good looks, (but) unfortunately they didn’t go in.”

With the loss, the Penguins fell to 9-4-3 and are in second place in the Metropolitan Division. Pittsburgh returns to the ice on Sunday at home against the Los Angeles Kings. Puck drop is set for 2 p.m. ET.

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