Penguins at Devils
The New Jersey Devils vie for their fourth straight victory overall and fourth in as many meetings with the Pittsburgh Penguins this season when the Metropolitan Division rivals meet at the Prudential Center on Thursday. The Devils began their current win streak on Friday as Taylor Hall capped a three-point performance by scoring 27 seconds into overtime in a 4-3 victory over the Penguins.
Hall set up three goals to increase his point streak to five games (two goals, seven assists) in Tuesday's 4-3 triumph over Carolina, moving New Jersey three points clear of red-hot Florida for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Kyle Palmieri also recorded a three-point performance with two goals and an assist against the Hurricanes to give him nine points (six goals, three assists) in the last 10 games. While the Devils are bidding for their first playoff berth since the 2011-12 season, two-time reigning Stanley Cup-champion Pittsburgh is clinging to second place in the Metropolitan after losing for the fifth time in nine outings with a 5-2 setback at Detroit on Tuesday. "We need to start playing like every game is the most important game of the season," defenseman Kris Letang said. "Right now, we're not playing with the same urgency against teams below us in the standings as we are with the teams around us.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, AT&T Sportsnet-Pittsburgh, MSG-Plus (New Jersey)
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (43-28-6): Superstar captain Sidney Crosby has scored in four straight outings and added three assists during his point streak. Jake Guentzel set up Crosby's early tally on a 2-on-1 rush Tuesday to boost his point streak to four games (one goal, five assists) entering Thursday's tilt versus New Jersey, against which he has three assists this season. Evgeni Malkin leads Pittsburgh in goals (42) and points (93), but has just one of each during three encounters with the Devils.
ABOUT THE DEVILS (40-28-8): Coach John Hynes is asking his relatively young team to be accepting of the moment as it enters the postseason stretch. "It's important for our group to go through it because you can't replicate it in Game 20 or Game 30," Hynes told reporters on Wednesday after an optional practice. "In the situation that we're in, if you happen to get in (to the playoffs), it's a big part of the game. The games are so emotional and so intense and you're always playing teams where everyone is all in and everyone is a strong team." Goaltender Keith Kinkaid, who owns a 12-3-0 mark in his past 15 decisions, is 3-0-0 with a 2.00 goals-against average and .938 save percentage versus the Penguins this season.
OVERTIME
1. Pittsburgh has yielded 10 power-play goals in its last nine games.
2. New Jersey rookie D Will Butcher has collected nine points (one goal, eight assists) in the past 10 contests.
3. Penguins G Matt Murray has permitted four goals in each of his last three outings and 15 total since returning from a nine-game absence due to a concussion.