Game Preview: New Jersey Devils @ Pittsburgh Penguins 2/26/2026
Who: New Jersey Devils (28-28-2, 58 factors, seventh place Metropolitan Division) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (29-15-12, 70 factors, 2nd place Metropolitan Division)
How to Watch: Locally broadcast on Sportsnet Pittsburgh and MSG, streaming on ESPN+
Pens’ Path Ahead: Well, hopefully everybody loved the day without work as a result of the schedule goes bonkers from right here. This is the beginning of a stretch of three video games in 4 days, 4 in six and all the best way as much as 12 video games in 21 days earlier than the following time the Pens get two consecutive days off (Mar 19-20). Next up will probably be two matinee video games (12:30pm @NYR on Saturday, adopted by a house 1:00pm begin towards Vegas on Sunday). Then comes a fast journey to Boston for a sport subsequent Tuesday earlier than three-straight residence video games subsequent week.
Opponent Track: The Devils performed final evening at residence towards Buffalo dropping a 2-1 sport. They’ll keep on the highway after tonight to go out to St. Louis on Saturday.
season collection: The Pens carry a 1-0-1 document towards NJD to this point this season, first dropping a 2-1 shootout sport in Jersey on November eighth earlier than taking a 4-1 residence victory on January eighth. The groups meet up one last time after tonight on April ninth in NJ for what will probably be Game No. 79 for the Pens.
Hidden Stat: Bryan Rust has 34 factors (18G+16A) and in 42 profession video games towards the Devils. It’s essentially the most factors he is picked up versus anyone crew, per Pens PR. Today would undoubtedly be day for Rust to proceed his success towards this acquainted opponent.
Getting to know the Devils
Timo Meier – Nico Hischier – Dawson Mercer
Jesper Bratt – Jack Hughes – Connor Brown
Arseni Gritsyuk – Cody Glass – Lenni Hameenaho
Paul Cotter – Nick Bjugstad – Vladimir Tsplakov
Brett Pesce / Jonathan Kovacevic
Jonas Siegenthaler / Dougie Hamilton
Brenden Dillon / Simon Nemec
Goalies: Jacob Markstrom (Jake Allen began yesterday)
Potential scratches: Luke Glendening, Evgenii Dadonov, Colton White
Injured Reserve: Luke Hughes, Stefan Noesen, Zack MacEwen
- New Jersey will get the advantage of this not being their first sport again from the break, coming with the commerce off of getting to play and journey final evening. As all the time it will be attention-grabbing to see how that goes, particularly early on for a Pens crew that should shake off rust and maybe climate an early storm.
- The Devils just lately acquired Bjugstad, doubling their variety of tall, lumbering, bottom-six former Penguin facilities.
- Hameenaho is an unfamiliar title with a handful of video games and factors to this point. The 20-year outdated Finn was a second spherical choose in 2023 and has been making some waves in his first North American season. The scouring report on the 6’0, 173 pound winger is that he is well-rounded and first rate throughout the board however with none explicit standout talent.
(Note: Does not embrace the stats from final evening’s sport vs BUF)
- It’s excessive time to get it in gear for the Devils, who got here again from the Olympics in fifteenth place out of the 16 Eastern Conference groups and a whopping 11 factors away from a playoff berth. They’re needing one thing akin to a 2009 ’18-4-3 Penguins below Dan Bylsma’ sort of end to get again within the playoff combine at this level, to which it would already be just a little too late to realistically accomplish.
- Somehow, on no matter elements of well being, chemistry, cohesion, teaching, administration, it simply hadn’t added up proper in New Jersey this season. It was fairly wild to see many Devils have nice Olympics: there was after all Jack Hughes together with his golden objective, Jacob Markstrom performed nicely for Sweden as their main goaltender, Timo Meier regarded nearly as good as he has shortly for the Swiss, Simon Nemec popped out for the Slovaks, even just lately traded Ondrej Palat performed a lot better than he had for the Devils…Yet by some means the ‘sum of the elements’ appear lesser for NJ than the person items available.
Key to the sport: Keep the Jersey satan down
The Devils have been inept offensively at 5v5 this season, these struggles have weighed them down inside video games. The actual key to the sport is perhaps how the Penguins deal with the primary sport of not having Sidney Crosby (extra on this beneath), however for now we’ll deal with the season developments.
Will the break ignite gifted Devil gamers like Hischier, Hughes, Bratt and Meier? A lineup like they’ve shouldn’t be struggling to supply objectives this deep into the season, but it introduced little or no ending capacity up thus far. The reset might change every part and make them much more harmful than they’ve proven to this point, though it regarded like extra of the identical with final evening’s results of one objective on 28 pictures. Will they begin placing it collectively now that they’ve had a sport again and the Pens have not? The reply to that may go a good distance in deciding this sport.
Avery Hayes – Rickard Rakell – Bryan Rust
Egor Chinakhov – Tommy Novak – Evgeni Malkin
Anthony Mantha – Ben Kindel – Justin Brazeau
Connor Dewar – Blake Lizotte – Noel Acciari
Parker Wotherspoon / Erik Karlsson
Samuel Girard / Kris Letang
Ryan Shea / Connor Clifton
Goalies: Arturs Silovs and Stuart Skinner
Potential Scratches: Kevin Hayes, Ryan Graves, Ilya Solovyov
GO: Sidney Crosby, Filip Hallander, Jack St. Ivany
- The Penguins should press on for some time with out Sidney Crosby, with the primary iteration of the lineup trying like Rakell will slide to heart and the recalled Avery Hayes will see how rather more lightning is in his bottle following his two-goal NHL debut from just a few weeks in the past.
- Another new face will probably be launched to the lineup within the type of Girard, paired up in observe rather than the participant he was traded for. It’ll be attention-grabbing to see how the French connection goes there with Letang, the Pens have not had very many Quebecois defenders over time apart from No. 58. There was PO Joseph and Vincent Deshairnais just lately [Mike Matheson from an English part of Montreal as somewhat fitting]earlier than that you must return to the likes of Simon Depres after which bit gamers like Alexandre Picard, Alain Nasreddine and Philippe Boucher for a really restricted variety of French Penguin defenders within the final 20 years, in addition to Letang himself.
- Chinakhov was excused for observe yesterday for the start of a kid. New dad power, activate!
Balanced scoring to be put to the take a look at
A reputation you do not see above in latest main scorers? Crosby. The Pens’ captain ‘solely’ (by their requirements) scored one objective and notched 5 assists within the final 9 video games earlier than the Olympic break. It’s one factor to have him within the lineup not scoring in contrast and one other to be faraway from the crew basically although, which the Penguins should begin getting used to tonight. It is probably some consolation, nevertheless, to see that very just lately this crew was functioning extraordinarily nicely with contributions from gamers apart from the primary line.
Even with out Crosby, the Pens have the Malkin line that would operate and produce as a lot as a primary line in the event that they proceed latest scoring developments, some stability behind it with Kindel/Mantha on one other line, then Rust/Rakell soldiering on with out their standard heart adopted up with what has develop into a surprisingly productive fourth line with Dewar/Lizotte main the best way. A crew by no means needs to see their captain and finest participant develop into unavailable, the depth and stability of the lineup will probably be examined in Crosby’s absence.
