NEW JERSEY DEVILS NOTES:
Last Game
New Jersey Devils 2 St. Louis Blues 4
(35-14-5 -75 PTS) (26-25-3 -55 PTS)
Three Stars: 1. J. Binnington 2. J. Kyrou 3. B. Schenn
SCORE 1ST 2ND 3RD OT SO FINAL
St. Louis 1 2 1 – – 4
DEVILS 1 1 0 – – 2
Goals:
STL: P. Buchnevich, A. Toropchenko, J. Kyrou, B. Schenn (PPG)
NJD: D. Mercer,E. Haula
Game Summary | Event Summary
INJURIES/ILLNESS
PLAYER INJURY OUT SINCE GAMES MISSED
Jonathan Bernier – LTIR Lower-body, hip 2021-22 54
Brendan Smith Lower-body Feb. 9, 2023 4
2022-23 Total Man-Games Lost to Injury/illness: 158
TRANSACTIONS
DATE PLAYER ACTION
2/6/23 John Marino Activated off I.R.
2/17/23 Alex Holtz Reassigned to Utica
The Devils conclude a four-game road trip, which marks the team’s second-longest road trip for the season, but fell to 1-1-1 after Thursday night’s contest at St. Louis.
Road trip schedule:
2/11, at MIN, 3-2, Lso
2/14, at CBJ, 3-2, W
2/16, at STL, 4-2, L
2/18, at PIT, 5:30 P.M. E.T.
WHAT TO KNOW
The Devils enter Saturday’s contest with an 8-5-1 overall record in back-to-back games this season. The team opens its eighth back-to-back set for 2022-23 and hosts Winnipeg at 7:00 P.M. on Sunday at the Rock. Jersey’s team is 3-3-1 in a first half for back-to-back sets this season.
Is Saturday’s contest a matinee or night game? Per NHL Pr, “The NHL does not have a policy on which time of day takes a game from being considered a matinee or day game to a night game. The league shall consider 5 p.m. (local) as the cutoff unless the club advises otherwise.” After Thursday’s lost the Devils allowed four, or more, goals in a game for the 16th time this season. New Jersey earned one win for 2022-23 when allowing four, or more, goals in a game, which was earned on Feb. 6, 2023 vs Vancouver (5-4, OTW). As of Feb, 17, the Devils were one of seven teams that allowed four, or more, goals in a game fewer than 17 times, while Vancouver suffered the most games this season when allowing four, or more, goals in a game this season (36 games). The Devils are 11-2-2 in their last 15 games played dating to Jan. 7, vs NY Rangers. The team’s .800 points% ranks first in the NHL with Carolina since that time. The Devils, Tampa, Boston and Carolina all recorded 11 wins since that date.
The team’s 35 wins after 54 games played from the start of a season are tied for the most in franchise history:
35 wins: 2009-10
35 wins: 2022-23
34 wins: 2008-09
34 wins: 2002-03
33 wins: 1999-00
33 wins: 2006-07
32 wins: 1997-98
The 20 road wins after the team’s 54 games played from the start of a season are the most in franchise history:
1998-99: 18w, in 26 road GP
2008-09: 18W, in 27 road GP
2009-10: 17w, in 27 road GP
The Devils enter Saturday’s contest 20-4-3 on the road for the 2022-23 campaign, which ranks first in the NHL. The 20 road wins are the team’s most in a single season since 2017-18 (21-15-5). After Tuesday’s victory at Columbus, the Devils earned 20-or-more road wins in a season for the 12th time in franchise history. The most road wins in a single season for franchise history is 28 (28-10-3), which was earned in 1998-99. Per NHL Pr, New Jersey “became the first team in NHL history to record 20 road wins in 26 games or fewer – the previous mark was 27 contests, accomplished by the Capitals twice (2019-20 & 2015-16).” The team’s 102 goals for on the road were tied with Vancouver and Edmonton for the second most in the NHL, while Seattle ranked first with 109 goals for via road games, per Feb. 17. The Devils enter tonight’s contest with an 18-10-2 record vs the Eastern Conference this season and a 10-5-2 record vs the Metropolitan Division. New Jersey logged a 9-14-3 record vs the Metropolitan Division last season. The Devils are 27-4-4 when Nico Hischier recorded a point in a game this season and 18-6-2 when Jack Hughes scored a goal in a game for 2022-23. The Devils are 20-7-1 when scoring first in a game this season and 15-7-4 when trailing first in a contest. New Jersey’s 15 wins when trailing first in a game this season ranks first in the NHL, per Feb. 17, while Boston ranked second with 14 wins (14-8-2). The Devils are 22-0-2 when leading after the second period this season, while Boston ranks first in the NHL for this matter with a 28-0-2 record. The team’s zero regulation losses when leading after two periods is tied for the fewest with 10 other teams this season, per Feb. 17. Yet, New Jersey recorded 18 total comeback wins this season, which ranks first in the NHL. Per Feb. 17, Tampa and Carolina ranked second for this matter with 16 total comeback wins. New Jersey’s six multi-goal comeback wins this season was tied with Chicago for the most in the NHL, per Feb. 17. The Devils and 18 other teams have not earned a 3-goal comeback this season, yet. The Devils are 13-2-2 when outshot by an opponent this season and 21-12-3 when outshooting teams. The Devils are 1-0-0 when shots are even vs an opponent for 2022-23. The team’s two regulation losses when outshot by an opponents is tied with CAR, CGY and NYR for the fewest in the NHL, per Feb. 17. Jersey’s team is 32-5-4 when scoring three-or-more goals in a game this season. New Jersey’s 32 wins for this matter are tied for the third most with Carolina , while Boston ranks first with 39 wins and Tampa ranks second with 34 wins, per Feb. 17. The Devils have allowed 1, or fewer, goals against 12 times this season in a game. Jersey’s team allowed one, or fewer goals against, in a game just eight times all of last season.
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS NOTES:
LAST 2 GAMES
Feb. 17: NY Islanders 5, Pittsburgh 4 – UBS Arena
PIT Goals: Rakell (2), Crosby, Zucker
Multiple Points: Rakell (2G), Crosby (1G-1A), Joseph (2A), Ruhwedel (2A)
Goalie: DeSmith (23 saves, 28 shots)
Key Stats: Rickard Rakell’s multi-point night gives him five points (3G-2A) over his last two games.
PP: 0-1
PK: 1-2
Feb. 14: Pittsburgh 3, San Jose 1 – SAP Center
PIT Goals: Guentzel (2), Rakell
Multiple Points: Rakell (1G-2A), Crosby (3A), Guentzel (2G)
Goalie: DeSmith (38 saves, 39 shots)
Key Stats: Sidney Crosby’s ninth three-plus point night (3A) helped Pittsburgh cap off their California road trip with a win.
PP: 0-3
PK: 2-2
INJURIES
Position Player Status Consecutive Games Missed Total Games Missed
D Jan Rutta Upper-Body 12 12
G Tristan Jarry Upper-Body 8 15
F Ryan Poehling Upper-Body 2 16
D Mark Friedman Upper-Body 2 2
2022-23 Total Regular-Season Man-Games Lost: 134
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Date Transaction
Feb. 7 F Josh Archibald and F Kasperi Kapanen have been activated off of injured reserve.
Feb. 7 G Tristan Jarry has been placed on injured reserve, retroactive to Jan. 22.
Feb. 4 G Dustin Tokarski recalled from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL).
Jan. 29 F Jonathan Gruden and G Dustin Tokarski re-assigned to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL).
Pittsburgh’s All-Time Record vs. Devils: 114-113-28
In Pittsburgh: 64-52-10
In New Jersey: 50-61-18
OT Record vs. New Jersey: 8-11-11
Shootout Record vs. New Jersey: 2-1
2022-23 Results: Pittsburgh is 0-1-1.
Penguins All-Time Point Leaders vs. DEVILS:
Mario Lemieux- 74GP, 135 PTS (47G, 88A)
Sidney Crosby- 80GP, 88 PTS (39G-49A)
Evgeni Malkin- 63GP, 59 PTS (25G-34A)
TONIGHT’S GAME
- The Penguins return home to the friendly confines of PPG Paints Arena to take on the New Jersey Devils (TV: AT&T SportsNet; Radio: 105.9 The X).
- Pittsburgh has points in 10 of its last 13 games against New Jersey (8-3-2) dating back to Mar. 20, 2021.
- The Penguins have points in five of their last eight home games against the Devils (4-3-1) dating back to Nov. 5, 2018.
- Pittsburgh has wins in four of its last five home games overall (4-1-0) and has just two regulation losses at home in the 2023 calendar year (5-2-0).
- The Penguins have points in nine of 14 games (5-5-4) against Metropolitan Division foes this year.
QUICK HITS
1) Pittsburgh has 41 goals over its last 12 games dating back to Jan. 16. In that span, the team’s 3.42 goals-per-game average is seventh in the NHL.
2) Bryan Rust has 25 points (13G-12A) and is plus-16 in 31 career games against the Devils. It’s the most points he’s picked up versus any one team and five more than his next closest opponent (Washington, 20 PTS in 29 GP).
3) Sidney Crosby’s goal last night was his seventh game-opening goal of the season. Only six players have more such tallies than Crosby.
4) Jason Zucker has 20 points (7G-13A) in 25 games at home compared to 12 points (7G-5A) in 25 road contests.
5) Among all defensive pairs in the NHL who have played a minimum of 250 minutes together, only 12 pairings have a lower expected goals against than Pittsburgh’s pair of Brian Dumoulin and Kris Letang (11.9).
