Improving Penguins begin crucial division stretch vs. Devils

The Pittsburgh Penguins will try to build on some rare momentum when they host the middling New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.

The Penguins enter the contest with two consecutive wins to their name, while the Devils own a 4-4-2 record over their past 10 contests.

After being held to just a single goal in three straight games, the Penguins have picked up the slack offensively during their short win streak, tallying three goals in both contests.

A longtime catalyst of Pittsburgh's offense, Sidney Crosby has propelled the Penguins of late, scoring in each of their previous four games.

Pittsburgh's captain praised his team's overall effort when asked about why the Penguins found success in Saturday's 3-0 win over the Nashville Predators.

"Just moving the puck," Crosby said. "I thought our ‘D' did a really good job getting it to the forwards and if they couldn't make the pass, they skated it themselves or they got it deep. It was pretty simple, it's not always easy to execute that consistently and I think the (defensemen) were really good at just taking the play that was there, and then our forwards were on pucks and winning battles, which is a big part of it."

Crosby also tallied an assist against Nashville to bring his total up four goals and two assists during his four-game point streak.

Before Saturday's victory, Pittsburgh had not won consecutive games since Dec. 17-19. The Penguins are 7-10-3 since that last streak ended.

The injury-shaken Devils enter the clash with two losses over their past three games, including a 4-3 defeat at the lowly Buffalo Sabres on Sunday.

New Jersey trailed 3-0 after one period and 4-1 after two before its third-period rally fell short.

"We put ourselves in that position early," said Paul Cotter, who scored the Devils' first two goals Sunday.

"Normally when a team gets a lead like that, it's pretty hard to come back. I think as the game went on, we got a little bit better, but our start needs to be a lot better."

New Jersey is currently without captain Nico Hischier, who is considered week-to-week with an upper-body injury he sustained Jan. 25, as well as starting goaltender Jacob Markstrom, who will miss four to six weeks due to a lower-body injury he suffered Jan. 22.

Star center Jack Hughes has stepped up in the absence of Hischier, tallying points in five consecutive contests (three goals, three assists). Meanwhile, Jake Allen has taken over as starting goalie, sporting a 2-2 record with a 2.72 goals-against average since securing the crease.

The Devils have owned the Penguins of late, winning eight of the past nine meetings while outscoring their Metropolitan Division rivals 38-17 in the process.

Tuesday marks the start of a crucial seven-game stretch against division opponents for Pittsburgh, which entered Monday seven points out of the Eastern Conference's second and final wild-card spot.

After facing New Jersey, the Penguins will battle the Philadelphia Flyers three times, the New York Rangers twice and the East-leading Washington Capitals once.

--Field Level Media