Game #67 - vs New Jersey Devils

New Jersey Devils (40-19-8, 88 pts) at Pittsburgh Penguins (36-21-9, 81 pts)

Prior meetings:
Devils 1, Penguins 0 on February 27th in Pittsburgh.
Penguins 5, Devils 4 on February 16th in New Jersey
Devils 3, Penguins 0 on December 26th in New Jersey
Devils 5, Penguins 2 on December 1st in New Jersey
Penguins 4, Devils 2 on October 25th in Pittsburgh
Devils 2, Penguins 1 on October 18th in Pittsburgh

Here we go again. The Pens are within 7 points of first place in the Atlantic, which is two points closer than they were the last time these two teams met last week. The Pens could use a win to give themselves a fighting chance to catch the Devils for first place in the division. Why is that so important? Because right now it's the difference between playing the Islanders and the Senators in the playoffs.

The Pens have been struggling on the power play. They are just 2-28 in their last five games with the man-advantage. That's not likely to change against the best penalty kill in the Eastern Conference.

The Devils have lost three straight games (two in OT) and are struggling a bit right now. It's probably a good time to catch them, especially with their resident lunatic, Cam Janssen still out of the lineup for his completely unnecessary hit on Toronto's Tomas Kaberle.

Devils blog - Drop the Puck
This new (?) blog has a nice open letter to the city of Pittsburgh. They're much nicer than I would be - I'd just come out and call the Gaming Control Board flat out stupid in their decision.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the Pens are over the hump. Crosby has a break out night and the Pens win.

Let's Go Pens!