The Penguins exorcised several demons with Monday afternoon’s 3-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils.



First, the Penguins picked up their first win of the 2010-11 season, erasing all those questions of when they will get that elusive first victory. Second, they ended the Devils’ six-game winning streak over them, removing a huge psychological barrier in the process.



The Penguins beat the Devils for the first time since April 1, 2009 (6-1 at Mellon Arena) because of a total team effort at both ends of the rink. Goaltender Brent Johnson was spectacular in goal, stopping 30 shots; the team’s defensemen continue to excel at both ends of the rink – especially playing most of the game without an injured Zbynek Michalek; and the forwards did a great job getting shots and traffic on Martin Brodeur – making life miserable on him for the first time in a while. Brent Johnson

Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma elected to give Brent Johnson his first start of the season on Monday afternoon and the reward was a 30-save performance to help the Penguins pick up their first win of the season. Johnson’s best work came in the third period, when he denied 14 of the 15 shots the Devils threw his way.



Some of Johnson's best sequence came early in the second period when he stopped Jason Arnott's drive from the slot and the rebound by Matt Taormina.



Johnson even tried taking a crack at the empty net with just under a minute to play.

Pittsburgh outplayed New Jersey from the outset of the game, but the fact that neither team could find the back of the other’s net for most of the first period kept the Devils in the game. That all changed at 18:56 when Eric Tangradi forced an Ilya Kovalchuk turnover at the New Jersey blueline, allowing Alex Goligoski to swoop in, steal the puck and blow a slap shot off Martin Brodeur’s glove into the net. That goal was huge for the Penguins, who often have trouble when they have to play behind against New Jersey. NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Alex Goligoski and Mark Letestu scored goals within a three-minute span covering the first and second periods to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 3-1 victory over the undermanned New Jersey Devils on Monday.

