Penguins lose to Devils in Derick Brassard's debut

After Monday's NHL trade deadline, the Penguins look like the team to beat in the Metropolitan Division.

They are far from unbeatable, however, which the New Jersey Devils proved conclusively Tuesday night.

Stefan Noesen scored a tie-breaking goal early in the third period as the Devils earned a 3-2 win at PPG Paints Arena.

The loss snapped an 11-game home winning streak for the Penguins, who dropped two in a row overall for the first time in 2018.

“Just one of those games that was going to come down to turnovers,” captain Sidney Crosby said. “Both teams are trying to play pretty much the same game. They did it better tonight.”

As is often the case after the trade deadline, personnel changes brought plenty of different storylines to Tuesday's game.

Center Derick Brassard, for instance, made his Penguins debut after a Friday trade from Ottawa. He had a quiet night on the third line, playing primarily with wingers Conor Sheary and Phil Kessel.

“I have another notch in my game. I have another edge,” Brassard said. “I'm looking forward to the next couple days just to get back to that high intensity and get a good feel for the game.”

Defenseman Matt Hunwick had an eventful night after being mentioned in copious trade rumors before the deadline.

On one hand, he was on the ice for two of New Jersey's goals. On the other hand, he scored a second-period goal that seemed awfully clutch at the time, flashing to the slot and redirecting in a Jake Guentzel pass to tie the score 2-2.

“I thought (Hunwick and defense partner Jamie Oleksiak) were fine,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “It's easy to point fingers. I think they're a pair that we know can get the job done for us. They're good players. Just because you're on the ice for goals against, there's a whole lot more to it than that.”

Crosby had new linemates, skating between Guentzel and Bryan Rust. They were on the ice for both Penguins goals. Crosby scored the first on the rebound of a Brian Dumoulin shot to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead in the first period.

Tom Kuhnhackl, playing his first game in almost a month because of a lower-body injury, helped set up the goal with a blocked shot in the defensive zone.

Another change for the Penguins came in goal, where Casey DeSmith made his first NHL start since Feb. 3, filling in for Matt Murray, who is out with a concussion.

DeSmith made 35 saves. New Jersey's winner came on a Noesen tip of an Andy Greene shot from the half-wall five minutes into the third. The Devils' first goal came on a nasty wrister from Kyle Palmieri in the first.

“The way he kind of pulled it around the shin pad and shot it through (Oleksiak's) legs, I should have that, but at the same time, that's a high-level play for sure and maybe something I don't see as often in the AHL,” DeSmith said.

DeSmith said the Devils were fast and opportunistic, which alludes to perhaps the most important takeaway from the first post-deadline game for the Penguins.

Adding wingers Michael Grabner and Patrick Maroon, the speedy Devils, who are two points back of the Penguins in the division standings, improved at the deadline as well. So did several other teams in the Eastern Conference.

It's up to the Penguins to keep up.

“I don't think you can exhale and take it easy,” Crosby said. “You've got to find that hunger. They're a team that we're close with in the standings. It will be a fight here to the end. We've got to have a consistent effort here from here on in.”

Jonathan Bombulie is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at jbombulie@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BombulieTrib.