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Penguins' winning streak grows to 4 after beating Devils | TribLIVE.com
Penguins/NHL

Penguins' winning streak grows to 4 after beating Devils

Seth Rorabaugh
Seth Rorabaugh
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AP
The Penguins’ Danton Heinen (43) celebrates with teammates after scoring against the Devils on Saturday.
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The Penguins’ Danton Heinen goes airborne over New Jersey’s Jacob Markstrom and backhands a shot for a goal during the first period Saturday.
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Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry blocks a shot by the Devils’ Luke Hughes during the first period Saturday.
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The Penguins’ Connor Dewar gets a shot past New Jersey goaltender Jacob Markstrom during the first period Saturday.

With just over a month remaining in the regular season, the Pittsburgh Penguins haven’t been formally eliminated from postseason contention just yet.

That said, the arithmetic required to figure out how they can play meaningful games this spring would require a doctorate in combinatorics and a device manufactured by Texas Instruments.

But the Penguins haven’t accepted that likely fate.

At least that’s what one can tabulate by the quality of their play as of late.

A 7-3 victory against the New Jersey Devils at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday extended a winning streak to four games, tying a season-best.

“We’re in a tough spot as a team, but I think it shows that you don’t just mail it in,” Penguins defenseman Ryan Graves said. “You don’t give up. You want to have an atmosphere that breeds winning. Even if you’re out of the main group of positions for the playoffs, you’ve got to be trying to win games.

“Guys are proud in here. There’s no quit.”

The man primarily responsible for this quartet of triumphs has been goaltender Tristan Jarry, who opened March in the American Hockey League while seemingly banished to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for poor play. Saturday’s victory was also his fourth consecutive. He boosted his overall record to 12-8-4 after stopping 24 of 27 shots.

“We’ve done a really good job of getting points and climbing,” Jarry said. “We just have to keep that mindset and just keep going with it.”

Considering how flawed this roster is, it’s probably unrealistic to expect perfect by-the-book performances by the Penguins. And that was most decidedly the case on Saturday as the Penguins gave up the first goal early in regulation, needed a coach’s challenge to overturn a short-handed goal in the second period then ran into penalty trouble during the final period.

But even with all of those blemishes, they claimed a resolute victory against a strong opponent.

“It’s not always the cleanest game from an execution standpoint,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “I think we’ve got to do a better job staying out of the penalty box and some of those situations. There were a few penalties that I thought could have been avoided, that would have put us in a better position, but I give them a lot of credit.

“But guys are just competing. We’re playing hard. I’m happy for the players, being able to string a couple in a row here. We’re just going to take that game right in front of us and see where it takes us.”

Devils forward Cody Glass, barely a week removed from being dealt away by the Penguins on March 8 at the trade deadline, took the chance to get some revenge against his former employer by opening the scoring with his sixth goal of the season 10:08 into regulation.

After Graves failed to corral a rimmed puck near his own right corner, Devils forward Jesper Bratt collected it on the wall of the near wing then fed it to the right dot where Glass whipped a wrister through Jarry’s five hole. Penguins defenseman Kris Letang and another ex-Penguins forward, Daniel Sprong, screened Jarry on the sequence. Bratt and defenseman Luke Hughes had assists.

Another player who changed teams on the day of the deadline, Penguins forward Connor Dewar, tied the game with his second goal in as many games (and second score of the season) at 17:11 of the first period.

Chasing a puck down on his own end boards, Devils defenseman Simon Nemec failed to clear it properly, allowing Penguins defenseman Conor Timmins to keep it in the zone at the right point. Penguins forward Noel Acciari picked up the puck on the right wing wall, advanced into the near circle and fired a wrister on net. Goaltender Jacob Markstrom made the initial save but couldn’t contain the rebound which Dewar, stationed above the blue paint, cleaned up with a forehand shot. Acciari and Timmins tallied assists.

“It’s been great to come in and contribute right away,” Dewar said. “It makes you feel a lot more comfortable, and it’s nice to help out and get some wins here.”

The Penguins took their first lead only 25 seconds later via forward Danton Heinen’s eighth goal.

Devils forward Dawson Mercer failed to corral a puck at the left point of the Penguins’ zone and allowed it to slide into the neutral zone. Penguins forward Philip Tomasino took advantage of that miscue by claiming the puck and generating a two-on-one rush with Heinen against Devils defenseman Brett Pesce.

As Pesce leaned down to impede the rush, Tomasino dished a pass from the right circle to Heinen, dashing in from the left wing. Stopping the puck with his right skate, Heinen tapped in a backhander by an ill-positioned Markstrom. Tomasino and defenseman Vladislav Kolyachonok collected assists. It was Kolyachonok’s first point as a member of the Penguins since joining the club through waivers Feb. 9.

The Devils had a marvelous opportunity to tie the game with a power-play opportunity in the second period, but a pair of demanding saves by Jarry against Devils forward Ondrej Palat — first on a wrister than a backhander off the ensuing rebound — wiped out those ambitions at the 3:06 mark.

“It’s just a bit of reaction,” Jarry said. “I saw the guy in front, so I was just trying to make the first save. Then it was kind of just desperation to get to the second one, and just throwing everything that I have to try to get over there for that second shot.”

Shortly after Jarry’s rejection of Palat, Penguins forward Rickard Rakell scored his 31st goal at the 4:24 mark during a delayed penalty.

Settling a puck on the left half-wall of New Jersey’s zone, Penguins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk slid the puck to the high slot for Timmins, who then offloaded it to the right circle for Sidney Crosby. Considering his options for a moment, Crosby deemed Rakell to be the best choice and moved the puck to the slot where the winger pumped a one-timer by Markstrom’s glove. Assists went to Crosby and Timmins.

Devils forward Nathan Bastian appeared to score a short-handed goal at 15:26 of the second frame, but the Penguins issued a successful coach’s challenge, revealing the sequence to be offside.

Tomasino scored his 10th goal 2:22 into the third period which proved be the game-winner.

Playing a puck off his own end boards, Devils defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic simply lost possession of it. Tomasino accepted the charity in the left circle and snapped a wrister to the far side under Markstrom’s glove. There were no assists.

The Devils persisted and converted on power-play opportunities — coming off double minor penalties for high sticking to Acciari and Evgeni Malkin — to pull within a goal in the third frame. Forward Timo Meier struck first at 5:40 with his 19th goal.

Keeping a puck in the offensive zone at the left point, Nemec fed it up to the near half-wall for Bratt, who chipped to the opposite circle. Settling the puck, Meier released a wrister, beating Jarry’s glove on the near side. Assists went to Bratt and Nemec.

Forward Nico Hischier’s 28th goal came exactly one minute later.

From the Penguins’ right circle, Bratt slid a pass to the center point for Hughes, who gripped and ripped a wrister toward the cage. Positioned between the hashmarks, Hischier reached out with his stick and deflected the puck by Jarry’s glove. Hughes and Bratt had assists.

It marked the second consecutive game the Penguins’ penalty killers have allowed two goals.

The Penguins got some insurance at 14:15 thanks to defenseman Erik Karlsson’s 10th goal during a power-play scenario.

From New Jersey’s left corner, Malkin slid a pass to the center point for Karlsson, who moved in a bit and fired a wrister by Markstrom’s blocker. Malkin and Letang logged assists.

Dewar struck again at 19:05 on an empty net off an assist by linemate Blake Lizotte.

Only 33 seconds later, Penguins forward Kevin Hayes added his 10th goal against Markstrom. The only assist went to forward Emil Bemstrom, his first point in the NHL this season.

Even with a large total of goals in their fourth consecutive win, the numbers still don’t look good for the Penguins as it pertains to the playoffs.

But they haven’t counted themselves out.

“We’ve been playing well lately,” Letang said. “We’ve been playing more of a 60-minute game. You never know what can happen.”

Notes:

• The Penguins’ previous four-game winning streak this season came between Nov. 27 and Dec. 3.

• All of Tomasino’s goals have come since he joined the Penguins in a trade with the Nashville Predators on Nov. 25. Six are game-winners. He is tied with forward Bryan Rust for the team lead in game-winning goals.

• The Penguins snapped a six-game home losing streak to the Devils. Their last victory against New Jersey on home ice was a 4-2 triumph on April 24, 2021. Goaltender Casey DeSmith made 24 saves on 26 shots.

• Rakell (169 points) surpassed forward Tyler Kennedy and defenseman Moe Mantha (168 each) for 50th place on the franchise’s career scoring list.

• Erik Karlsson (105 points) surpassed defenseman Duane Rupp (104) for 90th place on the franchise’s career scoring list.

• Penguins forward Tommy Novak (undisclosed) and defenseman Ryan Shea (suspected left wrist or hand) were scratched due to injuries.

• Penguins defenseman Sebastian Aho and forward Matt Nieto were healthy scratches. Aho and Nieto were assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in paper transactions which are necessary procedural maneuvers with players who have been recalled under emergency roster conditions.

Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.

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