Looking Ahead: New Jersey Devils vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
92. . 85. Final.
The New Jersey Devils and Pittsburgh Penguins will clash for the first time this season. This will be one of two times the Devils travel to the CONSOL Energy Center in their five meetings with the Penguins this season.
They will have to do so against a team that is first in the NHL in powerplay percentage at a whopping 40% conversion rate. They will be facing the worst penalty kill in the NHL as the Devils are killing less than 70% of their penalties this season. This alone is a recipe for complete disaster.
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Pucks and Pitchforks
Last Season
The Devils and Penguins met four times last season with the home team winning every matchup. The Penguins won on Opening Night in Cory Schneider‘s first game as a Devil, the Devils won 4-1 in November, the Penguins won 3-2 in December and the Devils won 2-1 on New Year’s Eve.
The last time they visited the CONSOL Energy Center, Pascal Dupuis, Chris Conner and Jayson Megna scored for the home side while the Devils tried to stage a comeback with goals from Patrik Elias and Dainius Zubrus. It ultimately would not happen, however, as the Devils dropped to 12-15-6 that night while the Penguins improved to 22-10-1.
Stats vs. Penguins
Jaromir Jagr had two goals and one assist last season against the Penguins which is not surprising. Dainius Zubrus also found success in the form of one goal and two assists along with a +4 rating. Behind them, Michael Ryder recorded a goal and an assist, Travis Zajac had two helpers and Adam Henrique had a goal and an assist.
Zubrus’ rating topped the team, but there were a couple others that had good ratings as well. Zajac and Jagr both had +3 ratings as last year’s top line clearly had success against the Penguins. Damien Brunner led the team in shots with 16 but did not find the back of the net in the three games he participated in.
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Martin Brodeur and Cory Schneider split the starts against Pittsburgh last season with Schneider playing both games at the CONSOL Energy Center. He saved 38-of-44 for a lackluster .864 save percentage and a goals-against average over 3.00. Brodeur, on the other hand, found success and stopped 46-of-48 in the games he played at The Rock.
Looking Farther Ahead
The Pittsburgh Penguins will finish their 3-game home stand against the Los Angeles Kings and Buffalo Sabres after they take on the Devils. After their game on November 1 against Buffalo, they will start a five-game road trip and won’t return home until their game against the New York Rangers on November 15. Surprisingly, the only Western Canadian team they play in that stretch is the Winnipeg Jets as they will be staying relatively local in terms of time zones.
The New Jersey Devils will return home from their most recent road swing and start a 3-game home stand against the Winnipeg Jets and Columbus Blue Jackets. They conclude that stretch against the St. Louis Blues in one of two Devils games on NBC Sports Network this season.