The Pittsburgh Penguins topped the New Jersey Devils 4-1 Saturday in Pittsburgh, snapping the Devils' streak of four straight games in which they picked up at least a point in the standings. New Jersey had won three straight games before a shootout loss to the San Jose Sharks prior to Saturday's contest.
Despite the comfortable margin of victory for Pittsburgh, the game was tied early in the third period. The Penguins had gone ahead in the first through a power-play goal by Jordan Staal and held the lead until Patrick Elias tallied a short-handed goal with a little over 18 minutes to play. Elias, TV replays confirmed, should have been in the penalty box after a high-sticking penalty he committed was mistakenly charged to teammate Petr Sykora.
The mix-up was made inconsequential to the game's outcome over the remainder of the third. Pittsburgh's Chris Kunitz scored the go-ahead goal less than two minutes later before Staal created some breathing room with his fifth goal of the season and the 100th of his career. James Neal notched Pittsburgh's final goal with about 11 minutes, securing Johan Hedberg's first regulation loss since taking over for New Jersey's injured starting goaltender, Martin Brodeur.
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