A week ago, the Devils were reeling, having absorbed a sound beating from the Penguins in Pittsburgh.
Now, they are thriving, winners of three straight — all in impressive fashion — just as Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby and the Atlantic Division-leading Penguins come to town for the first of a home-and-home series.
“It will be a big challenge,” right wing Ilya Kovalchuk said. “We’re one point away from them. We’re confident the way we’re playing.”
In this recent upswing, the Devils (6-1-3), who trail the Penguins (8-3-0) 16-15 in points, have allowed just three goals. Their penalty kill has been at its stingy best. The Devils have killed off the opposition’s last 19 power plays, including all four of the Lightning’s chances on the man advantage in Thursday’s 4-2 victory, in which Martin Brodeur made 17 saves on 19 shots.
“Your goaltending has to be good if you’re going to kill off that many,” Devils coach Pete DeBoer said. “[Defensemen Bryce] Salvador and [Anton] Volchenkov are outstanding, they really thrive on those penalty-killing minutes for us. They really set the tone for us.”
Kovalchuk snapped a five game pointless streak in the win over the Lightning, notching the tie-breaking goal — his second shorthanded tally of the season — and adding two assists.
The second line of Adam Henrique, Patrik Elias and David Clarkson has meshed quickly, since DeBoer moved Henrique to join the other two after his return from offseason thumb surgery. They combined for all three Devils goals in Tuesday’s 3-1 win over the Rangers and were productive against the Lightning as well.
“We’re so versatile, guys can play center, guys can play wing,” said Henrique, who has scored three goals in five games. “We got a little bit of everything. Right now it’s working. It’s coming together. It seems like we really feed off each other well. The game’s simple.”
The Devils will have to be at their best against the Penguins, who have won five straight games and have scored 39 goals, second most in the Eastern Conference. They hung five goals on Brodeur and the Devils last Saturday, as many as New Jersey has allowed this season.
“We know what they’re about. They gave us a pretty good lesson in Pittsburgh last week,” DeBoer said. “We got to take a deep breath here, try and refuel and get ready because it’s a big four points, a division rival, and we need to play better than the last time we played them.”