With just two weeks left in the 2023-24 regular season, the disappointing Pittsburgh Penguins are focused on making it to the postseason.
Although they are not mathematically out of the running for the playoffs, the necessary calculations are quite complicated.
Extremely challenging. But solvable.
Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said on March 28, “We're not out until we're out. We're going to take it one game at a time and do our best to stay competitive.
“Anything can happen.”
On Tuesday, the Penguins surprised everyone by defeating the New Jersey Devils 6-3 at Prudential Center. They scored five goals in the third period to secure the comeback win, ending a seven-game losing streak against the Devils.
Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson scored the first goal 7 minutes, 54 seconds into the game.
Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler attempted to clear the zone from behind his own net but Karlsson intercepted the puck and scored with a shot that deflected off two Devils players.
The Devils tied the game late in the first period with a power-play goal from forward Timo Meier.
Meier scored from the right circle with a shot that deflected off Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson and over the shoulder of goalie Alex Nedeljkovic.
At 9:42 of the second period, Devils forward Curtis Lazar scored the second goal for the hosts.
Tomas Nosek passed to Lazar in the slot, and he scored with a quick shot past goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic.
The Devils extended their lead to 3-1 at 17:47 of the second period with a goal from forward Jesper Bratt.
Bratt skated in from the right wing and scored with a shot that went past Nedeljkovic's blocker.
Penguins forward Sidney Crosby scored his 38th goal on a power-play opportunity in the third period.
Penguins forward Bryan Rust passed to Crosby in the left circle, and after the puck deflected off Evgeni Malkin's skate, Crosby scored from the right side of the net.
Just 67 seconds later, Malkin tied the game with his 22nd goal.
Penguins defenseman Jack St. Ivany passed to Malkin, who deflected the puck with his stick for a goal against Devils goaltender Jake Allen.
Rickard Rakell scored his 13th goal at 16:16 of the last period to put the Penguins in the lead for good.
Nemec attempted to wrap a puck around the boards from behind his own cage. Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson caught it at the left point and shot the puck towards the net. From the inner rim of the near circle, Rakell deflected the puck by Allen’s blocker on the near side.
Malkin scored at the 16:38 mark and Crosby scored at 17:07 into an empty net to secure the lead.
Nedeljkovic, in his sixth consecutive start, unofficially saved 23 of 26 shots as his record improved to 14-6-6.
