Penguins Game 69, Four in a Row?! Lines, Notes, How to Watch vs. Devils

The Pittsburgh Penguins (27-31-10) have won three in a row and are riding red-hot goalie Tristan Jarry, who is fighting for an NHL job for next season and beyond. The Penguins host the injury-riddled New Jersey Devils (36-25-6) at PPG Paints Arena.

The puck drops just after 3 p.m., so have your green beer early or save room for some later.

The Penguins have not played very well over the past week but have collected wins anyway. Last Sunday, Tristan Jarry earned his first NHL win since Dec. 23 when he beat Minnesota by stopping 29 of 30. He followed that four-star outing with an outstanding performance against Vegas, stopping 36 of 38. And then he made 32 saves, behind another shaky team performance in the 5-3 win over St. Louis.

Read More: Penguins Grades: Grinders, Bombardment, & the Jarry Wall

“Without a doubt, the last three games are three of the best games (Jarry) has played all year for us,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “He’s ultra competitive in there. He’s battling on pucks. You know, at the end of the day, when you look at our last three games, he’s the main difference in all three of them.”

Sidney Crosby has continued driving the offense, which is especially important as the rest of the team struggles. Crosby is just seven points away from his 20th season of at least a point per game, which would be an NHL record.

However, the Penguins got some unexpected goals Thursday when defenseman Conor Timmins scored his first goal as a Penguin. Newly acquired Connor Dewar and defenseman Ryan Graves scored their first goals of the season in the win over St. Louis.

With no game Sunday, it’s pretty well expected that Jarry will get his fourth straight start.

The Devils have also won three in a row, dispatching Philadelphia, Columbus, and Edmonton. However, the team is without its top center, Jack Hughes, and defenseman Dougie Hamilton, who are each done for the remainder of the regular season.

There’s a chance Hamilton returns deep into the playoffs, but it’s not expected.

The Devils are comfortably in third place in the Metro Division, eight points ahead of Columbus and Jacob Markstrom is expected to start in net.

Penguins Lines

Rickard Rakell-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust

Danton Heinen-Evgeni Malkin-Philip Tomasino

Connor Dewar-Blake Lizotte-Noel Acciari

Boko Imama-Kevin Hayes-Emil Bemstrom

Defense

Vladislav Koyachonok-Kris Letang

Matt Grzelcyk-Erik Karlsson

Ryan Graves-Conor Timmons

Goalie: Tristan Jarry

Devils Lines

Timo Meier–Nico Hischier–Stefan Noesen

Ondrej Palat–Dawson Mercer–Jesper Bratt

Erik Haula–Cody Glass–Daniel Sprong

Tomas Tatar–Curtis Lazar–Nathan Bastian

Defensemen

Luke Hughes–Brett Pesce

Brian Dumoulin–Johnathan Kovacevic

Brenden Dillon–Simon Nemec

Goaltenders

Jacob Markstrom

Special Teams

Penguins power play: 24.2%, 8th. Penguins penalty kill: 77.5%, 19th.

Devils power play: 27.3%, 4th. Devils penalty kill: 82.9%, 3rd.

Penguins Game Notes

It’s been an even battle between the teams over the past four years. The Penguins  (9-8-3) against the Devils, dating back to Mar. 20, 2021. However, the Devils have won the last six games at PPG Paints Arena.

Bryan Rust has 31 points (17-14-31) and is plus-10 in 38 career games against the Devils. It’s the most points he’s picked up versus any one team

On Thursday, Rickard Rakell hit the 30-goal mark for the first time since 2017- 18.

How to Watch

TV: ABC

Radio: 105.9 The X