The Pittsburgh Penguins just defeated the New Jersey Devils 4-1 on Thursday night which gave them their sixth victory in a row and has the team on a roll and feeling good. The Devils are a team that the Penguins usually struggle with so beating them convincingly has the team feeling great going into the weekend.
And with beating the Devils and making it 6 victories in a row, it now puts the Penguins into a category of their own since the Christmas break. The Penguins have won 6 in a row now for the first time since December 22 and no team in the league has more wins since the break than the Penguins.
SIX IN A ROW for the first time since December 1-15, 2022 (7-0-0).
— Penguins PR (@PenguinsPR) January 9, 2026
Since the NHL's holiday break, no team has more wins than Pittsburgh's six. pic.twitter.com/In5U23DgFt
The Penguins being able to be in a league of their own with this category should be thanked by them being able to have Evgeni Malkin back from injury. Malkin scored a huge powerplay goal in the victory as his goal towards the end of the second period put the Penguins up 3-0 going into the third period.
Malkin looked like himself back on the ice after missing the last 15 games with what he described to the media as a shoulder injury. Malkin found himself on the left wing with rookie Ben Kindel and young forward Yegor Chinakhov and the line looked pretty good.
And the fact that the Penguins fourth line keeps contributing on the scoreboard game in and game out. Forwards Connor Dewar and Blake Lizotte added goals for the Penguins in the victory and this fourth line might be the best that the Penguins have put on the ice in years now.
The Penguins win streak has been due to a ton of factors but the depth scoring and the recent emergence of Stuart Skinner has played a huge part in the Penguins success. They are getting contributions everywhere and it has meant a lot to where the Penguins are now in the standings.
They currently sit in the Eastern Conference's first wildcard spot with 51 points with a record of 21-12-9 which is great considering they were supposed to be bottom feeders. Nobody wants to play the Penguins right now and the evidence shows it.