The Pittsburgh Penguins held on to their spot at the top Metropolitan division after defeating the New Jersey Devils Thursday night, with a final score of 1-0.
Goaltender Marc Andre Fleury recorded his 5th shutout this season for the Penguins. That figure leads the NHL and ties his career high for a season.
“It’s nice, it hasn’t happened too often in my career, so it’s nice, but I’m just lucky to get the win tonight.” said Fleury of his achievement.
It was a tight-checking battle, as games between the Penguins and Devils often are. Through two periods, 33 shots had been taken, but none had beaten Fleury or Devils goaltender Cory Schneider.
With 17:28 left in the third period, Blake Comeau found Evgeni Malkin on a backhanded cross-ice pass. Malkin was able to put it off Schneider’s skate and in to give the Penguins the only lead they would need.
“It was one of those games where we had to will it out in the 3rd period,” said Penguins coach Mike Johnston on the win. “We stuck with it and gutted it with a tight game.”
Throughout much of the game, both teams played with short benches. Penguins forward Scott Wilson, just recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Tuesday morning, left the game early in the second period with a leg injury. Wilson’s status will be updated on Wednesday.
Wilson was inserted into the lineup after left-winger Chris Kunitz was a late scratch.
“Kunitz, they decided to take a closer look at his foot, which has been bugging him, and upon taking a look at it this afternoon with an MRI, they found a slight fracture in his foot,” said Johnston “I don’t really have a timeline, but they don’t think its going to be that long, but I don’t have a specific timeline for that right now, but they probably think it will be a couple of weeks.”
Malkin racked up 16 penalty minutes, including a 10-minute misconduct that finished his night 15:27 into the third period.
Sidney Crosby and Robert Bortuzzo, who missed Tuesday’s morning skate due to illness, were both able to suit up and play.
Patrick Elias and Jaromir Jagr both left the game early for the Devils. Jagr was knocked out of the game by a hard and high check by Bortuzzo.
“He’s obviously a high-end talent,” Bortuzzo said of Jagr. “If I can play hard on him, and try to make his night a little harder, that’s what I’m going to do against any team’s top players.”
Devils head coach Peter DeBoer was less enthusiastic about Bortuzzo’s physical play: “I thought it was a real liberty. Totally unnecessary.”
The NHL’s Department of Player safety has scheduled a hearing with Bortuzzo, calling the hit “late.” Bortuzzo has never faced any supplementary discipline from the league. The hearing will have to happen before the team’s next game, which is Thursday night against the Vancouver Canucks.
Photo credit: NHL
