The Pittsburgh Penguins will look to extend their recent success when they play the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.
The Penguins have won two straight games, while the Devils have a 4-4-2 record in their last 10 games.
After struggling to score just one goal in three consecutive games, the Penguins have started to find their offense again, scoring three goals in each of their last two wins.
Sidney Crosby has been a key player for Pittsburgh, scoring in each of the last four games.
When talking about the Penguins’ 3-0 win over the Nashville Predators on Saturday, Crosby credited the team’s effort, saying, “Just moving the puck. I thought our ‘D’ did a really good job getting it to the forwards and if they couldn’t make the pass, they skated it themselves or they got it deep.
It was pretty simple, it’s not always easy to execute that consistently and I think the (defensemen) were really good at just taking the play that was there, and then our forwards were on pucks and winning battles, which is a big part of it.”
Crosby also added an assist in that game, giving him four goals and two assists during his four-game point streak.
Before Saturday’s win, the Penguins had not won back-to-back games since Dec. 17-19. They are 7-10-3 since that streak ended.
The Devils have struggled recently, losing two of their last three games, including a 4-3 defeat to the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday. They were down 3-0 after the first period and 4-1 after the second, but made a strong third-period push that came up short.
“We put ourselves in that position early,” said Paul Cotter, who scored the Devils’ first two goals Sunday. “Normally when a team gets a lead like that, it’s pretty hard to come back. I think as the game went on, we got a little bit better, but our start needs to be a lot better.”
New Jersey is missing captain Nico Hischier, who is week-to-week with an upper-body injury, and starting goaltender Jacob Markstrom, who will be out for four to six weeks due to a lower-body injury.
In Hischier’s absence, Jack Hughes has stepped up, earning points in five straight games (three goals, three assists). Goalie Jake Allen has taken over as the starter, with a 2-2 record and a 2.72 goals-against average.
The Devils have had the upper hand on the Penguins recently, winning eight of the last nine matchups and outscoring them 38-17.
Tuesday’s game begins a key seven-game stretch for the Penguins, with six of those games against division rivals. Pittsburgh is currently seven points behind the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot. After facing the Devils, the Penguins will play the Philadelphia Flyers three times, the New York Rangers twice, and the top-ranked Washington Capitals once.
