Saturday’s clash in Pittsburgh saw the Penguins deliver a statement performance, a 7-3 dismantling of the Devils that not only extended their own winning streak to four but emphatically extinguished New Jersey’s hopes of a fourth straight victory. Adding to the offensive onslaught, Connor Dewar netted two goals, further solidifying the Penguins’ dominant performance. Backstopping the dominant performance, Tristan Jarry earned his fourth straight win between the pipes. Despite the lopsided score, Cody Glass opened the scoring for the Devils, followed later by goals from both Timo Meier and Nico Hischier. The Penguins host the New York Islanders on Tuesday, while the Devils head to Columbus to take on the Blue Jackets on Monday.
Pittsburgh Penguins Lineup:
Rakell – Crosby – Rust
Heinen – Malkin – Tomasino
Dewar – Lizotte – Acciari
Imama – Hayes – Bemstrom
Kolyachonok – Letang
Grzelcyk – Karlsson
Graves – Timmins
Jarry
Nedeljkovic
New Jersey Devils Lineup:
Meier – Hischier – Noesen
Palat – Mercer – Tatar
Sprong – Glass – Bratt
Cotter – Lazar – Bastian
Hughes – Pesce
Dumoulin – Kovacevic
Dillon – Nemec
Markstrom
Allen
Former Penguin, Cody Glass, opened the scoring to put the Devils ahead 1-0 on a wrist shot for his sixth goal of the season when Luke Hughes got ahold of the puck, sending it along the boards and behind Pittsburgh’s net to Jesper Bratt on the left side, who made a quick pass to Glass for a wrister from the right face-off circle with 9:52 on the clock in the first. Connor Dewar knotted it up 1-1 on his second of the season at 2:49 at the front of the net when he tipped in Noel Acciari’s shot onto Jacob Markstrom and collected the rebound for a wrist shot. Just 25 seconds apart, Danton Heinen untied the knot to put the Penguins in front 2-1 for his eighth of the season with a backhand on a 2-on-1 after Philip Tomasino took a pass from Vladislav Kolyachonok, carrying it up through the neutral zone and into New Jersey’s zone before sending it to Heinen.
Rickard Rakell struck early into the second period to give the Penguins a 3-1 lead on a delayed penalty at 15:36. He fired a one-timer past Jacob Markstrom from the slot set up by Sidney Crosby, who received a pass from Connor Timmins. It seemed that Nathan Bastian scored short-handed to make it 3-2 on a two-man breakaway at 4:34; however, it was ruled for offside, and it was waved off after Pittsburgh challenged.
Philip Tomasino put home his 10th goal of the season, extending it to 4-1 early at 17:38 of the third period. He stole the puck from Jonathan Kovacevic after the Penguins got the puck out of their zone, and sent a wrist shot past Jacob Markstrom. At 14:20, Timo Meier cut it to 4-2 when Simon Nemec made a pass to Jesper Bratt along the left boards, and Bratt sent it across to Meier for a wrister from the right circle on the power play. Nico Hischier made it 4-3, 1:00 apart, when he deflected a shot from Luke Hughes with his team-leading 28th goal of the season after Meier passed to Bratt, and Bratt handed it over to Hughes, who fired from near the blue line. With 5:43 on the clock, Erik Karlsson pushed it to 5-3 on the power play, scoring his 10th of the season and his second in the past five games on a snap shot from the point off a pass from Evgeni Malkin, who got the puck from Kris Letang before sending it to Karlsson from the left corner. Connor Dewar scored his second of the game with an empty-netter off a pass from Blake Lizotte, and with 22 seconds left to play, Kevin Hayes found the back of the net from the slot on a wrist shot after taking a pass from Emil Bemstrom, who was along the right boards, for the 7-3 final.
Game Notes:
– Tristan Jarry made a total of 25 saves for Pittsburgh for his fourth straight win. He had been recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL on March 3.
– Philip Tomasino recorded both a goal and an assist, and Connor Timmins picked up a pair of assists.
– The Penguins last won four in a row from November 27-December 3.
– For fourth-most points with a single franchise in NHL history, Sidney Crosby (615-1,054–1,669) tied Wayne Gretzky (1,669 with the Edmonton Oilers). They sit behind Gordie Howe (1,809 with the Detroit Red Wings), Steve Yzerman (1,755 with the Red Wings), and Mario Lemieux (1,723 with the Penguins).
– Erik Karlsson has scored at least 10 goals in 10 NHL seasons, which is second most among active defensemen behind Brent Burns (13). …With his goal against the Devils, he now has 199 NHL career goals.
– Jacob Markstrom made a total of 16 saves for New Jersey.
– Jesper Bratt recorded three assists, now having nine points in three games (two goals, seven assists). He also hit the 60-assist mark, tying the Devils’ franchise record for single-season assist total. The record has been standing since 1992-93 by Scott Stevens. …He also had his third consecutive three-point game to match the longest streak in franchise history. The only other Devils players to do so over the last 30 years are both Jack Hughes (2023-24) and Ilya Kovalchuk (2011-10).
– Luke Hughes picked up a pair of assists, giving him five points in the past five games (one goal, four assists).
– PGH: 28-31-10, NJ: 36-26-6
ITR 49: For Real This Time – Inside The Rink
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