For 40 minutes, Pittsburgh held the box on the home ice.
After two periods played, they led 6-0, but the talk in New Jersey's locker room must have been something very special, because the team went out on the ice and thundered in six goals in the final 20 minutes.
- We just wanted to come out and win that period.
In ice hockey, you must never quit.
The team showed good strength there, says New Jersey captain Nico Hischier, who scored the team's first goal in the match.
Second worst in the entire league
And probably it was a message of strength.
The guests won the final period 6-1, but the final result 7-6 to Pittsburgh means that the playoff spot is out of reach for New Jersey, which is now a placement from the jumbo spot, the entire league counted.
Only Buffalo is behind the team in the count.
Pittsburgh started strong and already after the first period the team had a lead of 4-0.
The fourth goal was Jeff Carter's first for the team - he was transferred there from Los Angeles last week.
The goal was completed by New Jersey's Swede Andreas Johnsson, who scored the 7-6 goal in the final seconds of the match.
New Jersey, which has now lost seven games in a row, played without several key players. These include top goal scorers Jesper Bratt (lower body injury) and Pavel Zacha (unknown injury), defenders Ty Smith (upper body injury) and PK Subban (covid-19 action) and first goalkeeper Mackenzie Blackwood (upper body injury).