Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin each tallied a goal and an assist as the Pittsburgh Penguins stormed back from an early two-goal deficit to defeat the New Jersey Devils 4-2 on Friday night.
Bryan Rust contributed a goal and an assist, Valtteri Puustinen also scored, and Matt Grzelcyk added two assists for Pittsburgh, now winning three of its last four games. Tristan Jarry made 27 saves and turned aside the final 19 shots he faced.
Erik Haula and Ondrej Palat provided first-period goals for the Devils, while Jake Allen stopped 17 shots. The loss marked New Jersey’s second straight defeat after a three-game winning streak.
Haula opened the scoring 15 seconds into the game with a breakaway finish, and Palat doubled the lead at 6:17.
Malkin got Pittsburgh on the board with 3:50 remaining in the first, his 30th career goal against the Devils and 514th overall, moving him past Jeremy Roenick into 42nd on the NHL’s all-time goals list.
Puustinen tied it 2-2 with a power-play goal early in the second period, and Crosby gave Pittsburgh its first lead of the night with a power-play goal from one knee at 13:21 of the third. Rust sealed the win with an empty-net goal in the final minute.
Game Takeaways
Penguins: Pittsburgh went 2-for-4 on the power play, marking the sixth consecutive game with a power-play goal — their longest streak since a 10-game run in 2022.
Devils: New Jersey, ranked third in the league on the power play, went 0-for-3 and generated only four shots with the man advantage.
Key Moment
Crosby’s go-ahead goal in the third came from the right post, where he was left unguarded and one-timed a pass from Rust for his 32nd goal of the season.
Key Stat
Jarry rebounded after a shaky start, stopping the final 19 shots he faced after allowing two goals in the opening 6:17.
Up next
Penguins: Host the Boston Bruins on Sunday.
Devils: Wrap up a five-game homestand against the New York Islanders on Sunday.
