Pittsburgh Penguins: Lessons Learned vs. Devils
By Rob Joncas
The Pittsburgh Penguins are coming off back-to-back losses and are 2-8-0 in their last 10 games. They are facing off against a New Jersey Devils team that is 6-2-2 in their previous 10 games with back-to-back wins.
The Pittsburgh Penguins need to find a way to get some points against New Jersey. While no one in Pittsburgh is panicking just yet, you can tell that frustrations are beginning to mount and the situation is starting to boil over.
While there is still plenty of opportunities to turn the heat down to a gentle simmer, Pittsburgh needs to fix the deficiencies in their game and get back to what made them so dangerous to play against just a few months ago.
While we wait to see what the action brings us tonight, here is a look back some of the history between the clubs.
Season Series
Tonight’s game will mark the third match-up this season between the Penguins and Devils with each team owning a victory.
Overall, Pittsburgh’s record vs. New Jersey is 86-101-9-13 in 209 games played.
Their first game culminated in a 3-3 tie on Oct. 5, 1982.
The Best of Times and The Worst of Times
Despite reaching 9 goals on two occasions, one of the Penguins best efforts against the Devils occurred on Nov. 27, 2001.
Pittsburgh pushed 6 goals behind Devils goalies Martin Brodeur and Jean-Francois Damphousse on 17 shots. Robert Lang led the way for the Penguins with one goal and four points, as Johan Hedberg faced 39 shots and earned the shutout. Pittsburgh took the game 6-0.
Halloween came early for Pittsburgh in this horrific encounter from Oct. 28, 2000.
John Madden scored four goals and 5 points, and Randy McKay popped in four goals of his own, as the Devils railed the Penguins by a score of 9-0. Garth Snow and Jean-Sebastien Aubin did the best could considering Pittsburgh let the New Jersey shooters put 42 shots on net.
Leading Scorers
Sidney Crosby leads the Penguins scorers with 33 goals and 72 points in 65 games played (GP) vs. the Devils. Evgeni Malkin takes second with 21 goals and 54 points in 52 GP. Kris Letang – 15 points, Jake Guentzel -11 points, and Bryan Rust – 9 points, round out the top 5 scorers.
Leading Goaltenders
Tristan Jarry earned a win in his only game vs. New Jersey and presently has a goals-against-average of 1.00. Casey DeSmith has a record of 0-3-0 in four GP and a GAA of 3.08. Matt Murray has made the most appearances with a record of 6-3-1 in 10 GP and a GAA 3.50.
Enemy Lines
Here’s a look at a few players that have crossed enemy lines during their careers:
Arron Asham, Beau Bennett, Doug Bodger, Alain Chevrier, Jeff Christian, Tom Chorske, Jaromir Jagr, Jan Hrdina.