Pittsburgh Penguins Rough Up New Jersey Devils

With the Pittsburgh Penguins visiting the New Jersey Devils in Newark, NJ, goaltender Matt Murray was giving Marc-Andre Fleury a rest in back-to-back Pens’ games.  In net for New Jersey was backup netminder Keith Kinkaid who was making his first ever start against the Penguins.

Having split their last two contests against the Devils, and getting shutout 4-0 in their first game in Newark this season, the Pens were looking to tilt the board in their favor.

Carl Hagelin, who passed the concussion protocol on Saturday, was held out of Sunday’s game in what appeared to be a precautionary move.  With Hagelin out of the lineup, head coach Mike Sullivan shook things up by bringing young forward Scott Wilson up to the first line at left wing next to Sidney Crosby.

The Pens also decided to add some toughness to their lineup, which was much needed, by calling up Tom Sestito prior to their visit to Newark.  Sestito took the left wing position on the fourth line  along with center Matt Cullen and right winger Conor Sheary.

Early on in the first period, Phil Kessel took a rare penalty for roughing which was matched with a corresponding penalty to the Devils’ Bobby Farnham.  Not long after, Tom Sestito, just called up from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, got into it with Devils’ tough guy Jordin Tootoo.  In what was a “sort-of” fight, Tootoo received an instigator penalty in addition to roughing, while Sestito picked up two for roughing himself.

With the Pens on the power play, Evgeni Malkin used his sniping skill to put a one-timer past netminder Keith Kinkaid and give the Pens the lead 1-0.

In what felt like a repeat of Thursday night’s second period against the New York Rangers, the Pens were back on the board within seconds.  A mere 38 clicks of the clock and Matt Cullen went top shelf with a snap shot to give the Pens the lead by two goals.  And that’s the way the first period would culminate.

Not long after the second stanza kicked off, Nick Bonino, recently back from injury, got on the board with a goal for the first time in more than 30 games to put the Pens up by a score of 3-0.  Bonino took a rebound and stuffed it past a diving Keith Kinkaid for his fourth tally on the season.

About six minutes later, New Jersey native Kyle Palmieri put his team on the scoreboard.  In what was actually quite a pretty shot, Palmieri had the puck alone on a breakaway and faked forehand before going backhand and tucking the puck in behind Matt Murray’s leg.  Pens were now up 3-1.

With less than five minutes remaining in the second, the Devils tried to clear their zone but the disc was intercepted by number 71.  Malkin then came into the Devils’ zone one-on-one and ripped a screamer over Kinkaid’s glove.  Pens were now up by three, 4-1, and that’s how the second period would close out.  

Bryan Rust picked up his third goal of the season in the third period, as the Pens started to rout the Devils.  It was nice to see newly acquired Justin Schultz get credited with an assist on that goal as well.

And just to confirm the Devils’ retreat, Scott Wilson got himself on the board, to put the Pens up by a hefty five goals, with an assist from linemate Sidney Crosby (his 37th on the season).  That would be how the game would end, by a score of 6-1 in favor of the Pens.  This was a big win for the Pens, further distancing themselves from a division foe in the playoff race.

Although Sestito didn’t drop his gloves to fight with Tootoo, his agitation of the smaller, tough Devil paid off in spades for the Pens.  With Tootoo jumping Sestito as soon as the puck hit the ice, he was given an instigator penalty which added two minutes on to his time in the bin.  That extra two minutes gave the Pens a man advantage which led to the Malkin goal.  Getting that first goal was huge for Pittsburgh, giving them the edge and starting the momentum rolling which led to this very one-sided win for the Pens.