Devil On My Shoulder

It was the second time this month that the Pittsburgh Penguins and the New Jersey Devils went head-to-head. And it was the second time this month that the Devils bested the Pens with a 2-goal advantage. In fact, in all 6 games played against each other this season, the Pens have not been able to beat captain Rob Niedermayer and his crew.
Although Pittsburgh's Chris Kunitz scored the first goal early on in the game, it was followed by 4-goal blitz by the Devils, delivered by Parise, Elias, Martin and Zubrus, respectively. By the start of the third, the Pens began to show their desperation, with Sidney Crosby being sent to the bench for goalie interference, a rare occurence on his part.
Partway through the third, Ruslan Fedetenko banged home a quick wristshot to narrow the deficit to 2, but with less than 2 minutes left in the period, Niedermayer sealed the Devils' win.
What is it that the New Jersey Devils have over the defending Stanley Cup champions that keeps them winning at every one of their matchups?
Penguins fans might blame the Pens' loss on the recent injuries of Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, but the fact is that the Devils have been having an outstanding season, and are sitting comfortably at 6th in the league, just above the Penguins.





Pittsburgh Penguins vs New Jersey Devils, March 17 2010