Devils at Penguins
Captain Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins have been running roughshod over their opponents of late, with the New Jersey Devils left in their wake of one such dominating performance earlier this month. The Penguins look to extend their winning streak to a season-high seven games on Thursday when they host a Devils club that is in danger of missing the playoffs for the fourth straight season.
Crosby is riding high with a 12-game point streak (six goals, 14 assists) and a 10-game run (four goals, 11 assists) against Metropolitan Division rivals. "In general as a team, we are just playing well. Individually that stuff takes care of itself," said Crosby, who tallied in Pittsburgh's 2-0 win over New Jersey on Jan. 26 and had two assists in a 6-1 rout of the Devils on March 6. While the third-place Penguins are clinging to a one-point lead over the New York Islanders, New Jersey has won four of six to reside six points behind Philadelphia for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Scott Wedgewood turned aside 27 shots in a 2-1 win over Columbus on Sunday and will get the nod versus Pittsburgh as the Devils begin a stretch of three games in four nights.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG-Plus (New Jersey), ROOT (Pittsburgh)
ABOUT THE DEVILS (35-31-7): Although Wedgewood has just one NHL start under his belt, the 23-year-old told NorthJersey.com that he is looking forward to facing Crosby and the potent Penguins. "He's probably one of the top three players if not the best player in the league," Wedgewood said. "You have to not give him too much credit. I'm in the same league as him right now, so that means something toward my confidence and stuff too and I've just got to play him like any other shooter, just read what you think he's going to do and make the best effort on him." Wedgewood could look for pointers from fellow netminder Keith Kinkaid, although he yielded six goals on 30 shots in the last meeting with Pittsburgh.
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (40-24-8): Defenseman Brian Dumoulin returned to practice on Wednesday, three days removed from absorbing a big hit from Alex Ovechkin during a 6-2 win over Washington. "We're still taking steps," Dumoulin told the team's website of his potential return from an undisclosed injury. "We're going to see how pregame skate goes (Thursday). Obviously not sure, but (Wednesday) was a good day to be out there. It was better than skating by myself." Coach Mike Sullivan told reporters that both Dumoulin and forward Beau Bennett will be game-time decisions, with the latter looking to return from a 25-game absence due to an upper-body injury.
OVERTIME
1. Pittsburgh has won seven of its last eight versus Metropolitan Division rivals and is 14-3-1 in its last 18 such contests.
2. New Jersey has lost its last five games at Consol Energy Center and 11 of 13 (2-10-1) since the arena opened in 2010.
3. The Penguins have won five straight games and is 10-4-1 this season without C Evgeni Malkin, who is expected to miss another month with an upper-body injury.