NEWARK — The Pittsburgh Penguins only needed to win against the New Jersey Devils. They had no other objectives, which is good because they were outplayed, mistake-prone, and generally as loose as they have been in weeks.
But the Pittsburgh Penguins are playoff bound for the first time since 2022 as they beat New Jersey 5-2 at the Prudential Center Thursday. As Evgeni Malkin raced from the bench to finish Sidney Crosby’s rebound at 6:50 of the third period for a 4-2 Penguins lead, the sloppiness no longer mattered. New Jersey’s spirit was gone.
No, all that mattered was the math that the Penguins can finish no worse than third in the Metro Division, and their magic number to clinch home ice in Round One with a second place finish is just two points with three games to go.
Third place is still a dogfight between the Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Islanders. The Penguins will face one of those teams.
And the Penguins have clinched a playoff spot. It wasn’t their best, but it was the biggest Penguins win in several years.
The Penguins escaped the first period with a 1-0 lead. The achievement might seem small, but the method by which they claimed the advantage had as much to do with New Jersey’s inability to convert odd-man rushes as it did the post that Timo Meier hit in the first 60 seconds.
Meier clanged the inside of the post on a three-on-one after the Penguins casually passed the puck around the offensive zone as if it were a few minutes before practice.
Penguins goalie Stuart Skinner stopped a few more high-danger chances in the first period, including a two-on-one and a breakaway. The Penguins were indeed that inattentive in the first 10 minutes.
Yet, the quick strike Penguins claimed the lead, seemingly without warning, when defenseman Kris Letang made a sharp pass to Egor Chinakhov racing toward the slot. Instead of taking the open shot, Chinakhov declined the shot, instead slipping a dangerous cross-ice pass to Bryan Rust. The gambit worked as Chinakhov made a perfect pass for Rust (29) to hit an open net at 4:53 of the first.
The Penguins tightened up later in the period and outshot New Jersey 15-10 (scorers added three Penguins shots during intermission).
The Penguins were bad in the second period. Perhaps that’s too generous, but the hockey gods were even more generous. New Jersey failed to convert several chances before Paul Cotter (9) scored a breakaway goal behind Noel Acciari and Erik Karlsson to tie the game 1-1 at 9:51 of the second period.
However, just a couple of minutes later, the quick strike Penguins scored a pair of goals nine seconds part. First, a defensive stop sent the Penguins on a three-on-two. It seemed the Penguins fumbled their chance, but Evgeni Malkin tapped a blocked pass to Tommy Novak (16) on the right wing, who whipped it past New Jersey goalie Jake Allen short side at 11:43.
Then the Penguins took a 3-1 lead off the following faceoff when Ryan Shea lofted a pass over New Jersey and Egor Chinakhov (21) raced past everyone for a short breakaway goal just nine seconds after the first goal.
However, the Penguins flat-footed lethargy again spotted New Jersey a goal light when Team USA Olympic hero Jack Hughes circled to the top of the zone then had no company as he stepped into the slot and his wrister deflected off defenseman Parker Wotherspoon past Skinner for a 3-2 Penguins lead at 15:07 of the second.
For the goal that broke New Jersey’s spirit in the third period, Ryan Shea’s little touch pass was a sharp breakout to Sidney Crosby, whose two zone bank pass off the boards sprang Chinakhov into the zone at full speed.
After Chinakhov and Crosby connected again, Crosby charged to the net around Allen, but didn’t finish the chance. However, Malkin (19) raced from the bench to clean up the rebound.
Chinakhov had three points (1-2-3). Crosby had a pair of assists.
Skinner was superb, facing too many odd-man rushes. He stopped 19 of 21. Allen was also good, though the stats belie his performance. He made 26 saves on 30 shots.
With additional results in the Penguins’ favor Thursday, they have clinched second place in the Metro Division. The Buffalo Sabres beat Columbus 5-0, and the Detroit Red Wings beat the Philadelphia Flyers 6-3.
The Flyers can tie the Penguins at 98 points, but the Penguins own the regulation win tiebreaker. The Flyers have 92 points and third place. The Islanders have 91 points, and Columbus has 90. All have three games remaining.
And the Pittsburgh Penguins are in the playoffs.
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