James Nichols
That game sure did look like the Pittsburgh Penguins had something to play for and the New Jersey Devils… well, didn’t.
The Devils got off to a fast start, outshooting the Penguins 7-0 through the first four minutes of play by sustaining offensive pressure.
Yet, as they’ve done most of the time this year, New Jersey gave up the first goal when Bryan Rust scored his 29th of the season to give Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead.
A failed clearing attempt by Simon Nemc was intercepted by Kris Letang at the blueline, who found Egor Chinakhov in the New Jersey slot, who dumped the puck to Rust who had a wide-open net.
The second period was interestingly the reverse of the first period. Through the first nine minutes of the middle frame, the Penguins held the Devils to a 6-0 shot advantage.
However, the Devils finally broke through just under the 10-minute mark on their first shot of the second period.
Dougie Hamilton flipped the puck to center ice and led Paul Cotter for a breakaway. Like Cotter usually does when he’s one-on-one with a goaltender, he deked Stuart Skinner out of position and scored to tie the game at one.
The tie game was short-lived, however.
Two minutes later, Tommy Novak finished an impressive rush as Erik Karlsson fed Evgeni Malkin in the Devils’ slot, who later found Novak on Jake Allen’s right post, giving Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead.
Nine seconds later, Egor Chinakhov widened the Penguins lead to 3-1, scoring on a breakaway.
The Devils clawed back, however, when Jack Hughes snapped a shot over Skinner’s right shoulder on the rush to bring New Jersey back within a goal, 3-2.
The Penguins hit the dagger six minutes into the third period when Malkin scored to regain Pittsburgh’s multi-goal lead, widening the lead to 4-2.
Erik Karlsson hit the empty net to ensure the Penguins secured two points, and solidified the Devils’ 36th loss of the season.
Allen made 25 saves on 29 shots, and suffered his 17th in 2025-26.
The Devils play the Detroit Red Wings in Game No.80 on Saturday.
