If the Pittsburgh Penguins are to remain in a playoff position in the Eastern Conference, they’ll need to forge ahead without superstar captain Sidney Crosby.
With Crosby out at least four weeks due to a lower-body injury, the host Penguins will return from the Olympic break on Thursday night looking to hand the New Jersey Devils a fifth consecutive defeat.
Pittsburgh sits second in the Metropolitan Division and is 14-3-3 since Dec. 28. However, the 38-year-old Crosby was injured during Canada’s run last week toward the silver medal at the Milan Cortina Games.
“Obviously, I want to be back out there as soon as possible,” said Crosby, who missed Canada’s 2-1 overtime loss to Jack Hughes and the United States in the gold-medal game on Sunday.
“So, just have to figure out what that looks like, how long it’s going to be, and you know, find a way to make sure that I’m at my best when I come back.”
The Penguins will return from the break with three games in four days.
Although Crosby has totaled just two points in the last six contests, he leads the team in both goals (27) and assists (32).
“Like we’ve done all year, when guys have been out, we’ve stepped up as a group and kind of filled that void,” rookie center Ben Kindel told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
“It’s not been easy, but we have a lot of character in this room.”
Kindel has been one of those players, totaling 27 points in 53 games while registering six of his 14 goals in the last six contests. However, he’s failed to record a point while Pittsburgh earned three points in its two previous meetings with New Jersey.
Teammate Connor Dewar, with five points (two goals, three assists) in the last five games, had a goal and an assist during the Penguins’ 4-1 home victory over the Devils on Jan. 8.
New Jersey’s 58 points this season are the second fewest in the Eastern Conference. The Devils have been outscored 12-3 during a stretch that reached four straight losses with Wednesday’s 2-1 home setback to Buffalo.
New Jersey has not led in any of the last four contests.
“You got to score in order to take hold of the game,” coach Sheldon Keefe said. “We got to play with the lead more.”
Hughes, a Devils center who scored the Americans’ overtime winner against Canada in the gold-medal game, was celebrated by the home crowd Wednesday. He also assisted on Timo Meier’s late goal Wednesday and has 11 assists, with a goal, in his last 11 road contests.
After Jake Allen made 28 saves Wednesday, teammate Jacob Markstrom could be in the Devils’ net for this contest.
Pittsburgh’s Arturs Silovs, meanwhile, is 3-2-2 in his last seven starts but owns a 2.13 goals-against average during that span. Teammate Stuart Skinner is amid a 5-0-1 starting stretch despite posting a 3.16 GAA in those games.
Skinner stopped 28 shots against the Devils last month.
Pittsburgh announced this week that it acquired Samuel Girard and a 2028 second-round draft pick from the Colorado Avalanche for fellow defenseman Brett Kulak.
