The Pittsburgh Penguins will play host to the New Jersey Devils this Tuesday in another one of Tuesday’s games at the Consol Energy Center. This will be the sixth and final meeting between the two teams during the course of the season. Out of the five games,
the Penguins lead the series 3-2.
The Penguins won the first two games while the Devils bounced back with some brilliant performances that saw them winning the next two. However, the last game between the two sides took place on March 25 that saw the Penguins winning with a slender lead
of 1-0 after shootout.
The Penguins are in good position and still have a chance to make their way to the top of the Division and the Eastern Conference. They trail both the Flyers and the Capitals by three points with three games remaining for each team. The Penguins will be
looking to maintain their fifth spot with a point difference separating them from the sixth placed Lightning for playing on home ice.
The Devils are one of the historic teams in the National Hockey League that has come across a lot of success. This is the first time in over 20 years that the Devils will play a game already out of the play-off. This last time that they missed the play-offs
was in 1996 which was also after a final game loss to the Ottawa Senators.
This time, their chances of making it into the play-offs ended with a loss to the Montreal Canadiens 3-1 this past Saturday.
“We knew it was going to come,” Brodeur said. “It doesn’t come as a shocker, really. We had a good run, we played really hard to get ourselves in a position to compete for the last 10 games or 15 games or so and try to get into the playoffs. It was just
too much. We’ve got four more games to just try to keep on doing what we’re doing, try to play hard and get some wins.”
The Devils have played 78 games during the course of the season out of which they have won 36 games in regulation time, five games in overtime to score a total of 77 points. On the other hand the Penguins have played 79 games out of which they have won 46
games in regulation time, eight games in regulation time and scored 100 points.
The Penguins came up with a decent performance against the Lightning but they lost the game. Things were not looking good for them as they trailed the Florida Panthers 2-1. However, in the end the Penguins dealt with the pressure very well and won the game
4-2.
“We control our own destiny,” Pascal Dupuis said. “We needed to win some games and this one was an important one. It’s a big two points.”
The game is important for the Penguins to win as they chase top spot in the Division and the Conference while the Devils will be looking to play the Spoilers.