The Pittsburgh Penguins are back on the winning track after a 5-2 win over the New Jersey Devils on Sunday. The Pens were blown out on Saturday as Brad Thiessen got the start in net and surrendered eight goals. But the Pens responded just a day later and are back to their winning ways behind the work of Marc-Andre Fleury.
The Devils immediately made things interesting at the start of the third period as the Pens came out a little sluggish, turning the puck over and losing track of Ilya Kovalchuk in front of the net. The Russian star took advantage and buried his 32nd goal of the season to make it a one-goal game with 16 minutes remaining.
Pittsburgh would quickly respond, however, as the brilliance of Sidney Crosby was on full display yet again. Crosby had a couple incredible plays in the loss to Ottawa and he had yet another dandy move to get to the net and beat Martin Brodeur for his fourth goal of the season. The captain passed the puck off the boards to himself and went right around a Devil defenseman. The score came just a minute after Kovalchuk's and deflated any momentum the Devils had. Evgeni Malkin would add a late empty-netter to remove all doubt. It was his 46th goal of a remarkable season.
The win over the Devils wrapped up the season series at an even 3-3 and put the Pens back to just one point shy of the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference leading New York Rangers. It was the third straight season the Pens reached 100 points - a feat the franchise has never accomplished in its storied history. After the back-to-back weekend, they now have a day off before hosting the Islanders on Tuesday night.
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