The Devils beat the fading Penguins on Tuesday night, knocking Pittsburgh out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with four games left in the regular season.
bounced back from their worst performance of the season with the help a 21-year-old second-year player.
Dougie Hamilton and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils, who remain three points behind Carolina in the race for the first-place in the Metropolitan Division. Carolina, which has played one fewer game than New Jersey, beat Ottawa in overtime. Coupled with Florida's win over Buffalo, the Panthers moved into a tie with the New York Islanders for the two wild cards in the East, one point ahead of Pittsburgh. All three teams have four games left, but they don't play each other.
Bryan Rust ruined Vanecek's bid for a fourth shutout this season when he scored his 20th of the season at 6:14 of the third period. Tristan Jarry had 32 saves for the Penguins, whose run of 16 straight postseason appearances is the longest active streak among the major North American sports leagues.
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