Game Preview #79: New Jersey Devils vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

The Devils have officially clinched a playoff spot, and their first game with an “x” next to their name comes against the rival Pittsburgh Penguins

The Matchup: New Jersey Devils (41-30-7) vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (32-35-12)

The Time: 7:00pm ET

The Broadcast: MSGSN, SN-PIT, NHLN

Last Devils Game

New Jersey last played on Tuesday when they hosted the Boston Bruins. Despite needing only one point to clinch a playoff spot and all the motivation in the world, they fell flat in a 7-2 loss.

Last Penguins Game

Pittsburgh was also in action on Tuesday, and they fared much better as they dismantled the woeful Blackhawks, 5-0. Erik Karlsson scored his 200th career goal in the game, and Tristan Jarry pitched the shutout, stopping all 26 shots Chicago fired his way.

Last Devils-Penguins Game

It happened on March 15th, and it was a terrible 7-3 loss in Pittsburgh. New Jersey was going for a fourth straight win in that game, but to the surprise of absolutely nobody, the Devils failed to reach that elusive four-game winning streak.

It’s Over

The worrying about the playoff chase, that is. As mentioned, New Jersey needed only one point on Tuesday to clinch a playoff berth. One point against a Boston team that recently suffered a 10-game losing streak and has fallen to the bottom of the Eastern Conference. With everything to play for against a bad team with nothing to play for, you’d think merely getting the game to overtime would be doable.

Seven goals allowed later, the Devils had to wait to clinch their spot in the dance.

There was another way New Jersey could have gotten in this week though: If the New York Rangers lost in any fashion, or if they won in a shootout, on Wednesday against the Philadelphia Flyers. Well lo and behold, New York continued their downward spiral with an embarrassing 8-5 loss. Yes, the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers combined to send their shared rival to the postseason.

To me it was bittersweet. Yes obviously a return to the playoffs is reason to celebrate. But to me it feels a little less satisfying when it happens as a result of another team losing as opposed to the Devils taking it for themselves with a win. The fact that it was the Rangers of all teams that lost the Devils into the postseason does make it easier to take I suppose.

But regardless of how it happened, the Devils are in. The chase is over. There have been many, many previews and recaps that I have written for this site over the past few months that have included looks at the out of town scoreboard or standings entering the day. This was because despite a fantastic first few months of the season, New Jersey has done everything in its power to fumble a sure playoff spot since Christmas. Thanks to the ineptitude of much of the rest of the Eastern Conference, that did not happen in the end.

After all the hand-wringing and scoreboard watching, after a disappointing trade deadline and a run of brutal injuries to some of the most important players on this team, after all the chaos and drama, it’s over. The New Jersey Devils are going to play an 83rd game this season.

We’ll have plenty of time to break down their first round series, as they’re already locked into a matchup with the Carolina Hurricanes. But for now, let’s enjoy it.

The Devils are going back to the postseason.

Injury Updates

Speaking of those brutal injuries, we got some news on that front yesterday:

There have been rumblings that Hamilton could maybe, just maybe, be back in time for the playoffs and perhaps even a regular season game or two. That would be massive. But Siegenthaler is a new one, and his potential return would be amazing.

That being said, don’t get your hopes up too much:

From what I read, Siegenthaler didn’t even fully suit up. He just threw on some skates and tested out how he felt on the ice in street clothes. At this point the fact that he’s even comfortable enough to put on skates is great, but the Devils should still prepare as if his season is over.

One Last Chance

For a while now, I have chronicled the Devils’ utterly amazing refusal to win four games in a row. They haven’t had a winning streak of four+ games since January of 2023, more than two calendar years ago.

13 three-game win streaks since January of 2023, zero four-game (or better) ones. The Devils’ 13-game heater early in the 2022-23 campaign was apparently made possible via the use of a monkey’s paw.

Well tonight is game 79 of the season. That means they have, you guessed it, four more games left. They have exactly one more shot at a four-game winning streak before the curtain closes on the 2024-25 season (though I suppose it’s possible they rip off a four-game win streak in the postseason, but is anyone really expecting that to happen?). Even though the schedule is very soft the rest of the way, with games against the Penguins, Islanders, Bruins, and Red Wings to close the regular season, I am expecting at least one loss in there. Meaning I am expecting a second straight season of no more than three-game winning streaks. Truly remarkable stuff.

Playing Out The String

The Penguins’ season ended a while ago. If ever there was a team that would be going through the motions at this time of year, one of the oldest teams in the league, and one that has already been eliminated from postseason contention, would be at the top of my list.

At this point, we all know what to expect from the Penguins. Sidney Crosby is still Sidney Crosby, entering this game with 31 goals and (of course) 87 points through 77 games. Rickard Rakell, Bryan Rust, Erik Karlsson, and Evgeni Malkin are next on the list of Penguins leading scorers this season. Rakell might be the only surprise, but not much of one. It’s all the usual suspects.

Meanwhile their goaltending has let them down for pretty much the entire season. Alex Nedeljkovic and Tristan Jarry have been the main goaltenders with 37 and 34 games played respectively, and with prospect Joel Blomqvist soaking up 15 games of his own. All of them have a save% between .885 and .894, good for a team save percentage of .891.

Their underlying numbers actually aren’t too bad according to Natural Stat Trick, with a 5-on-5 Corsi For%, Scoring Chances For%, High Danger Corsi For%, and Expected Goals For% all between 49%-51%. But this middling puck possession game has led to slightly less than middling results.

The Penguins are in the dying breaths of their contention era. It was long and fruitful, yielding three Stanley Cups. But all good things must come to an end, and while Crosby is still amazing, the rest of the team around him is old and declining. Soon there won’t be anything left in Pittsburgh.

Potential Lineups

Here’s how the Penguins looked in their last game on Tuesday:

And here are the Devils’ lines from practice yesterday, with a few changes made:

Farewell and Thank You Ray

Earlier this week, former Devils general manager Ray Shero passed away at the age of 62. It was a shock to the hockey world, as very few people even knew Shero was experiencing health issues. John wrote about Shero on Wednesday, I recommend it if you want to read about Shero’s life and legacy.

Given that Shero was the general manager of both the Devils and Penguins (delivering Pittsburgh’s first Stanley Cup of the Crosby era in 2009), I would imagine there will be some sort of tribute to the man at The Rock this evening. Heck, even if Shero had no direct connection to either club, I would still expect a tribute of some kind, but the fact that this is a matchup of the last two teams he ran as general manager, it makes it even more relevant.

Farewell and thank you Ray. Your impact is immeasurable, and you will be missed dearly.

Your Take

What do you make of tonight’s game? Do you expect the Devils to bounce back? What are your thoughts on the Devils finally clinching a playoff berth? As always, thanks for reading!