Game Preview: Pittsburgh Penguins @ New Jersey Devils 12/21/2024

The Pens are looking to ride the momentum of two straight overtime wins into a matchup with one of the hottest teams in the NHL.

Who: Pittsburgh Penguins (15-14-5, 35 points, 4th place Metropolitan Division) @ New Jersey Devils (21-11-3, 45 points, 1st place Metropolitan Division)

When: 7:00 p.m. ET

How to Watch: Broadcast on SportsNet Pittsburgh, MSGSN for the local market, streaming on ESPN+

Pens’ Path Ahead: The Pens return home to face the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, then enjoy a four-day break before returning to New York next Saturday for the first matchup of a two-game set against the Islanders.

Opponent Track: The Devils have climbed to the top of the Metro standings with 21 wins in their first 35 games, although they most recently dropped a 4-2 decision to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.

Season Series: This is the first of four meetings between the Pens and Devils, with home games coming up in February and March followed by another trip to Newark in April.

Hidden Stat: Jack and Luke Hughes combined for 19 shots on goal during Thursday’s loss to the Jackets, marking of the most prolific single-game shot outputs by a pair of brothers in NHL history (h/t Bryce Salvador.)

Getting to know the Devils

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Ondrej Palat - Jack Hughes - Jesper Bratt

Timo Meier - Nico Hischier - Dawson Mercer

Paul Cotter - Erik Haula - Stefan Noesen

Tomas Tatar - Justin Dowling - Nathan Bastian

DEFENSEMEN

Brenden Dillon - Dougie Hamilton

Jonas Siegenthaler - Jonathan Kovacevic

Luke Hughes - Brett Pesce

Goalies: Jacob Markström, Jake Allen

Potential Scratches: Curtis Lazar

IR: None

• The Devils’ trade for Markström ahead of the season has been a central reason this team has climbed to the top of the Metro. The Devils have gone 6-0-1 in his last seven starts, and he’s marked a .922 save percentage and 1.7 goals against average over the stretch. He could get the call to start against the Pens after Allen took the net for Thursday night’s loss to the Jackets.
• Dougie Hamilton returned from pectoral surgery that led him to miss most of last season and is back on the Devils’ top pairing, this time alongside offseason addition Brenden Dillon.
• New Jersey has leaned heavily on their top two lines as of late. Bottom-six players like Erik Haula, Tomas Tatar, Paul Cotter and Nathan Bastian are navigating scoring droughts, and general manager Tom Fitzgerald has said the team is looking for more secondary scoring.

Player stats

(via hockeydb)

• The Blue Jackets were leading 3-0 with three minutes against the Devils on Friday when the Devils launched a comeback. Late strikes from Luke Hughes and Timo Meier brought New Jersey within one shot of tying the game. The Jackets ultimately saved themselves thanks to an empty-netter and a strong showing from goaltender Elvis Merzlikins. But the Pens should learn from the Devils’ 18-shot third period on Thursday. A late lead wouldn’t be strong enough to count this team out.
• It will be a tale of two very different defenses in Newark tonight, especially with the Penguins missing blueline stalwart Marcus Pettersson. Devils rank fourth in the NHL with 2.60 goals against per game, and third with 25.7 shots against per game. The Pens rank 32nd with 3.69 GAA/game, and 30th with 31.8 shots SA/game.

And now for the Pens

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Rickard Rakell - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust

Michael Bunting - Evgeni Malkin - Philip Tomasino

Drew O’Connor - Cody Glass - Anthony Beauvillier

Matt Nieto - Blake Lizotte - Noel Acciari

DEFENSEMEN

Owen Pickering / Kris Letang

Matt Grzelcyk / Erik Karlsson

Ryan Graves / Ryan Shea

Goalies: Tristan Jarry and Alex Nedeljkovic

Potential Scratches: Jesse Puljujarvi, Kevin Hayes, P.O. Joseph

IR: Marcus Pettersson

• Friday was an off day for the Penguins, with a morning skate likely today in Newark (h/t Taylor Haase.) That will be our first glimpse at whether P.O. Joseph has a shot at cracking the Penguins’ lineup again tonight.
• As noted by Pens PR, the Penguins are 8-2-1 in their last 11 games, and 3-0-1 in their last four. The Pens will now look to ride that momentum into a stretch of four straight games against division opponents, starting with the Devils and followed by matchups with the Flyers and Islanders.