Match Overview

The Devils travel to Pittsburgh to face the Penguins for the final time this season. The Devils are coming off their first win of the season against Columbus on Sunday evening. Scott Wedgewood notched his first career win, stopping 27/28 shots he faced and earns his second straight start tonight.

While the Devils season may be coming to an end, the Penguins are in the thick of the Eastern conference playoff race and are playing some of their best hockey of the season right now. Sidney Crosby has scored 20 points in his last 12 games and his picked up the slack for a team missing Evgeni Malkin due to injury.

It’s not only Crosby playing well for the Penguins. The team has won 6 in a row and are 8-2-0 in their last 10 games. They also have the second best score-adjusted Fenwick in the league over the last 25 games at 55.4%. Only the Los Angeles Kings have been better in that time period.

The Devils called up Blake Pietila from Albany on Wednesday. He will play in his first career NHL game tonight filling in for the injured Tyler Kennedy, who did not make the trip to Pittsburgh with a lower-body injury. Pietila has 16 points in 54 games in first full pro season after playing four years for Michigan Tech in the NCAA.

Projected Lines

New Jersey

Blandisi/Henrique/DSP

Boucher/Zajac/Palmieri

Pietila/Kalinin/Sislo

Farnham/Gionta/Ruutu

 

Greene/Larsson

Moore/Severson

Mozik/Helgeson

 

Wedgewood

Pittsburgh

Kunitz/Crosby/Hornqvist

Hagelin/Bonino/Kessel

Kuhnhackel/Cullen/Rust

Sheary/Sundqvist/Fehr

 

Maata/Letang

Daley/Lovejoy

Cole/Schultz

 

Fleury

Players to Watch

Sidney Crosby…After getting off to a slow start this season, where he only had 11 points in his first twenty games, he has 65 in his last fifty-one games. If the Penguins are to make a deep playoff run, which they seem capable of doing, they’ll need Crosby to be firing on all cylinders. He’s been wildly successful against the Devils, scoring 55 points in 51 head-to-head matchups. With a young goaltender in net, the Devils will need to be sound defensively or otherwise it could be a long night for Wedgewood.

Kyle Palmieri…He’s been the Devils best player this season. He’s set career highs across the board. With 27 goals and 50 points, he’s going to earn a big pay day this offseason. Palmieri has 5 points in his last 3 games, including a 3-point effort in a 6-3 loss to Columbus last week. With 9 games left, Palmieri needs just 3 goals to become the Devils first 30-goal scorer since David Clarkson (30), Zach Parise (31), and Ilya Kovalchuk (37) all hit the mark in 2011-12.

What to Watch

The Battle at 5v5…As noted above, the Penguins have been the second best team at even-strength in the NHL over the last 25 games. On the other hand, the Devils have been the fourth worst, with just a 46.4% scored-adjusted Fenwick at even strength. The Devils will have to fair better at even strength to come out victorious tonight.

Scott Wedgewood…He was calm, cool, and collected in his first career NHL start Sunday evening. He’ll be facing a much tougher opponent in Pittsburgh tonight. Can he repeat the same performance as he did against Columbus?

When and Where to Watch

The game can be seen on MSG+ and ROOT at 7pm.