Penguins Stuck in Hockey Hades; Devils Burn Them, 5-2

Earning a playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division was one of the primary goals of the Pittsburgh Penguins this season.

Their chances of doing that would probably be much better if they actually beat the Metro team at times.

That’s something they haven’t been able to overcome on Dec. 20 against the New York Rangers, which is one of the reasons they’re hanging on the edge of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

The Penguins’ 5-2 loss to New Jersey at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday came less than 24 hours after the New York Islanders pulled off a 5-4 loss in Long Island. 0-5-3.

The Penguins were without No. 1 goaltender Tristan Jarry for the eighth straight game and the 16th time in the last 18 games. Casey DeSmith, who gave up three goals in the final 21 minutes against the Islanders, got the night off, so Dustin Tokarski got the start.

He acquitted himself pretty well, turning away 37 of 41 shots and keeping the Penguins in the game longer than they deserved to be.

Tokarski certainly seemed more invested in the outcome than many of his teammates. Some of them burned the water-covered tissue white hot.

Former Penguins defenseman John Marino of New Jersey got on the stat sheet early … knocking down Sidney Crosby at 3:05 of the opening period.

Marino’s stay in the penalty area was short-lived, however, as the Penguins made a power play just 28 seconds later.

Evgeni Malkin raced down the left wing and drove toward the net and headed Rickard Rakell’s cross-ice pass for his 20th of the season, the 14th time he has accomplished that feat in his career.

Kris Letang caught the second pass.

Dawson Mercer tied the game just 80 seconds later when he put a shot past Tokarski from the left side of the crease at 4:53.

Teddy Blueger, who entered the game without a goal in his previous 28 games, finally put the puck in the net at 8:08.

Unfortunately, Blueger and his team did just that by kicking the puck blatantly past Devils goaltender Vitek Vanecek. It would have been a great goal in the English Premier League, but the NHL frowns upon players scoring goals that use clear kicking motion.

The Penguins missed two more extra-man chances during the opening period, while the Devils were stopped on their only power play.

The Penguins had eight hits in the opening 20 minutes, including Jason Zucker smashing into the shoulder of Devils defenseman Brendan Smith behind the New Jersey net.

Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson was penalized for neutral zone interference with 3:37 left, and the Devils needed just 10 seconds to convert on the man advantage when Dougie Hamilton beat Tokarski just inside the right point.

New Jersey defenseman Ryan Graves was ejected for interference at 8:08, and that penalty led to a goal just 17 seconds later.

Unfortunately for the Penguins. The Devils did it when Letang lost the puck at the New Jersey blue line and the Devils got a two-on-one on Malkin. Nico Hischier finished it off by taking a feed from Yegor Sharangovich and beating Tokarski from the left.

The game was effectively over by the second intermission, but New Jersey scored Jesper Bratt from inside the right circle at 8:39 of the third and Malkin got his second shot of the night from the spot at 14:43.

Hischier finished the scoring with an empty netter at 17:56.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have Sunday off and will face the New York Islanders on Monday at 7:08 PM at PPG Paints Arena.