Much like Jack Hughes and Team USA faced Team Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics, the New Jersey Devils (28-28-2) visited the Pittsburgh Penguins (29-15-2) without Sidney Crosby.
Crosby was injured in Canada's semi-final match against Finland and could not mount a tough challenge in the gold medal game. As a result, the Penguins placed him on injured reserve, and he would be absent for approximately four weeks.
The Devils are chasing the Penguins head-to-head in an unlikely quest for the playoffs. As the NHL schedule resumes after another boring, punchless loss last night, the Devils will be looking to find any kind of score tonight against Pittsburgh.
Let's dive into tonight's matchup.
What to Know vs Penguins
- The Devils and Steel City face off for the second of four matches this season after the Jersey side defeated the Pens in a 2-1 shootout win at the Rock on November 8.
-Arseny Gritsyuk scored the only goal in regulation against Pittsburgh on November 8, while Paul Cotter (GDG) and Jesper Bratt both scored in the shootout round.
-Jake Allen got the win between the pipes against Pittsburgh and stopped both of Pittsburgh's shootout attempts.
—Bratt has 28 career points (8G-20A) in 31 career games against Pittsburgh, the second-most points of his career against a single opponent (vs. PHI - 29).
—Looking Back...Dawson Mercer earned his first career NHL hat trick against Pittsburgh in April of 2022–23.
-In points... Nico Hischier is first in the NHL with 687 face-off wins this season, while Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby is second with 649 face-off wins in 2025-26, per Jan. 7.
—The Devils and Penguins have both recorded three games without a win.
2025-26 vs penguins
11/8/25 SOW 2-1 Prudential Center
1/8/26 L 4-1 PPG Paints Arena
2/26/26 7:00 PM ET PPG Paints Arena
4/9/26 7:00 PM ET Prudential Center
devils vs penguins
All-time record: 131-112-17-6
All-time home record: 70-49-13-2
All-time road record: 61-63-4-3
Projected Devils Lineup*
Ahead
Timo Meyer - Nico Hischier - Dawson Mercer
Jasper Bratt - Jack Hughes - Connor Brown
Arseny Gritsyuk - Cody Glass - Lenny Haminaho
Paul Couture - Nick Bjugstad - Maxim Tsyplyakov
defenseman
Brett Pesce - Jonathan Kovacevic
Jonas Seigenthaler - Dougie Hamilton
Brendan Dillon - Simon Nemec
goaltender
jacob markstrom
jake allen
*Lineup is subject to change
Current injuries: Jack McEwen (upper body, out for the season), Luke Hughes (separated shoulder).
2025-26 Total man-games lost: 263
Projected Penguins Lineup*
Ahead
Avery Hayes - Ricard Raquel - Ben Kindel
Igor Chinakhov - Tommy Novak - Evgeni Malkin
Anthony Mantha - Ben Kindel - Justin Brazeau
Connor Dewar - Blake Lizotte - Noel Acciari
defenseman
Parker Wotherspoon - Eric Carlson
Samuel Girard - Kris Letang
Ryan Shea - Connor Clifton
goaltender
stuart skinner
artur silov
*Lineup is subject to change
How to watch the Devils game - 7:00 pm ET
See: MSGSN
Radio: Devils Hockey Net
next up
Saturday, February 28 at St. Louis 5:00 PM
Tuesday, March 3 vs. Florida, 7:00 pm
Wednesday, March 4 vs. Toronto, 7:00 PM
Saturday, March 7 vs. NY Rangers, 3:00 PM
Sunday, March 8 vs. St. Louis, 5:00 PM
