NEW YORK – The message from Sheldon Keefe on down Thursday was more about process than points.

And at times, it seemed like the Devils would get the best of both worlds at home against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Devils scored twice on their first seven shots while skating circles around their lottery-bound, division rivals early on.

But the Penguins answered back by scoring four in a row including two on the powerplay in a 4-2 loss for the Devils inside Prudential Center. Sidney Crosby had the game-winner on a net-front tap in at 13:21 in the third and the Penguins sealed the game with Bryan Rust’s empty netter.

No, the stakes weren’t all that high in the first game for New Jersey (41-31-7) since clinching a playoff spot. No matter what happens down the stretch, the Devils will head to Raleigh for Game 1 in their first-round series against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

But Keefe wanted to see better attention to detail from his team after an ugly 7-2 loss to Boston on Tuesday when Jacob Markstrom was pulled after allowing seven goals on 16 shots.

“The No. 1 thing for us it to feel good about our game and have really good habits and details and structure,” said Keefe, who’s playoff-bound for the sixth straight season after leading Toronto there in all five years as head coach.

“Do all that in a competitive environment and push ourselves that way and most importantly, get out of the games healthy and feeling good.”

Starting fast

Sporting a full face bubble, Erik Haula scored 15 seconds into the game after Dawson Mercer sprung him free on a breakaway.

The Devils doubled their lead less than seven minutes in when Ondrej Palat tipped in a shot from Cody Glass.

But that was all the offense the Devils could muster on a night when they outshot Pittsburgh, 29 to 21.

“It’s huge to get our game right,” defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic said after morning skate Friday. “And I don’t think it’s just a flip that you can switch on and off. We have to stay on and locked in.”

Change in net

For only the second time in eight games, Keefe turned to Jake Allen to start in the Devils net.

Allen stopped 17of 20 shots in a performance largely defined by bad bounces rather than poor play.

Pittsburgh cut the Devils lead to 2-1 on a Luke Hughes own goal when the defenseman tried stick-handling the puck off the line on a jam play by Evgeni Malkin. The Penguins tied the score at two on a powerplay goal in the second period, getting a fortuitous carom off Valtteri Puustinen’s skate to end a stretch of nine straight kills for New Jersey.

The Devils will try to rebound Sunday at home against the Islanders.

“It’s a long season, 82 games,” Kovacevic said. “And we’ve done a good job to clinch. So it’s something to proud of, but we obviously have our sights set forward so we’re not going to be patting ourselves on the back.”