The Devils and Penguins meet for the second installment of a three-game series Thursday night. It will also be the penultimate meeting between the two clubs on the 2020-21 season.
You can watch the game on MSG+ 2 or listen on the Devils Hockey Network.

YOUR GAME-DAY ESSENTIALS

PRE-GAME VIDEOS
Devils Minute with Amanda Stein
Pre-Game Interviews:
Zacha
|
Bratt
Pre-Game Media Availability with Head Coach Lindy Ruff
THE NUMBERS
Stats Comparison: NJD vs. PIT
Head-to-Head: NJD vs. PIT
Devils Player Stats
Penguins Player Stats
Media Game Notes
RECENT NEWS & BLOGS
GAME STORY: Penguins 7, Devils 6
PODCAST: Subban Finds Balance
FEATURE: Holtz Takes Step Towards NHL
10 TAKEAWAYS: Quotes You May Have Missed
PROSPECT WATCH: Talvitie, the Mystery Man
RECENT VIDEOS
VERIZON TOP PLAYS: Bahl's First
Tuesday's Post-Game Interviews:
Ruff
I
Hischier
I
Hughes
DETAILS: Episode 5 - Devils Physicality
TV & RADIO
You can watch the game on MSG+ 2
You can listen to tonight's game on the Devils Hockey Network.

INSIDE THE DEVILS

Check out the latest team coverage in our Inside the Devils Blog.
>> READ MORE IN THE INSIDE THE DEVILS BLOG

PRE-GAME STORY

PITTSBURGH, P.a.- The Devils received some good news on the injury front heading into Thursday night's contest against Pittsburgh at PPG Paints Arena.
Actually, it was double good news.
As in two players will be returning to the lineup in forwards Pavel Zacha (knee) and Jesper Bratt (lower-body). Zacha has missed the past five games, while Bratt has been out for four.
"Two guys that provide a lot of speed for us, power-play guys, on a young team they're some of our veteran guys," Devils head coach Lindy Ruff said. "We get them back in. We get a look at them. First game back sometimes is a tougher task, but we'll see where they're at."
Defenseman Ty Smith (upper-body) and goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood (upper-body) participated in the team's morning skate Thursday, but both have been ruled out for the game. Smith, though, could play as early as Saturday afternoon against the Penguins.
"(Smith) is progressing. He's not there yet," Ruff said. "It'll be a day-to-day situation where we'll evaluate. The hope would be to try to get him back by the weekend."
Zacha, who leads the Devils in scoring this season with 25 points (10G-15A) said he initially injured his knee a week before he was forced out of the lineup due to a slash.
"(My knee) and lower-body just locked up and I couldn't do much, so we took time so I could get better and stronger and play a game without thinking something is going to happen," Zacha said. "It was a pain that you couldn't really play and skate 100 percent. It's something that if you want to be in this league you have to be ready, and I wasn't."
Pain hasn't been an issue for Zacha in the past three practices/morning skates, and he's grateful that he will be able to play at full strength.
"It could have been worse," he said, "but I'm happy it was something that I could fix quick and I feel good now and can play without thinking about it too much. I'm really lucky. We'll have to keep working on it and keep it at the same level."
Bratt was hurt after blocking a shot from New York Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba on April 13. He was able to complete the game, but the swelling after knocked him out of the lineup.
"I felt it hit in a spot where I didn't have a lot of protection," said Bratt, who is tied with Zacha at 25 points to lead the club. "I could feel something didn't go right, but at the same time it felt OK during the game. It was more after the game when the pain and swollenness came."
LINEUP TWEAKS
With Zacha and Bratt going back into the lineup, one would expect them to go back to working with captain Nico Hischier. However, the Devils worked a different look at the morning skate.
Part of the thinking was Hischier's quick chemistry with Miles Wood and Nathan Bastian from Tuesday's game. But also splitting up Zacha and Bratt was a strategic maneuver by the team in evaluating their abilities in their first game back.
"Part of it is putting two players on a lineup that haven't played," Ruff said. "Do you want to put them on the same line together or do you want to spread that out a little bit until we get up and running. It's an easy switch to flip a couple guys around (during a game).
"I want to get a read on where Zacha and Bratt are. Because you can practice and all of a sudden (at) game speed, we've seen it before where you don't quite have it. So if one of them doesn't quite have it, at least he's on a line where the other two guys are going well."
That doesn't mean that there won't be some shuffling done during the game, in fact, it may occur very early in the game.
"That might even be in the first period," Ruff said.
ROOKS OUT
Two forwards into the lineup means two forwards out of the lineup. Judging by the morning skate lines, it appears that rookies Marian Studenic and Nolan Foote will draw the short straw this evening.

PREVIEW

DEVILS (14-25-6) at PENGUINS (29-14-3)
TV:MSG+ 2 AT 7:00 PM ET
Head-to-Head
The Devils and Penguins meet for the second installment of a three-game series Thursday night in Pittsburgh. The Penguins triumphed in a wild 7-6 opening game on Tuesday. Pittsburgh leads the season series, 4-2. The two teams will meet for the final two times this season Thursday and Saturday.
Tuesday featured a historic game as the Penguins took a 6-0 lead after two periods. The Devils tied a franchise record for goals in a period with six in the third frame. But Pittsburgh added a goal for the 7-6 win to become the first team in NHL history to be outscored by five goals in the third period and still win the game (previously 0-270 and 0-9 in the playoffs).
Devils Team Scope:
The Devils were already shorthanded by missing their top-two scorers in forwards Pavel Zacha (knee) and Jesper Bratt (lower-body). But before facing the Penguins they also lost their top-two defensemen in Ty Smith (upper-body) and P.K. Subban (COVID-19 protocol) and top goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood (upper-body). They also didn't have the services of Mikhail Maltsev (quarantining because of close-contact with Subban). All of their statuses are unknown heading into Thursday night.
New Jersey had a lot of positives to take away from the 7-6 loss. Center Jack Hughes, who has been snake-bitten all year, scored his 10th goal of the season. Rookie forward Nolan Foote scored his first-career NHL goal, in his second-career game, and forward Andreas Johnsson broke a 31-game goal-less drought with a tally.
Penguins Team Scope:
The Penguins are in the midst of a five-game homestand, starting with three against the Devils. They have a seven-game point streak since March 25 (6-0-1).
Jared McCann has 15 points (7G-8A) in his past 14 games. His 15 points in that span rank third on the team (Crosby, 20; Guentzel, 18).
Rust has an eight-game scoring streak against New Jersey for 12 points (5G-7A). Guentzel has a seven-game scoring streak vs. the Devils for 12 (6-6). He has 22 points (10-12) in 19 career games against the Devils.
Winger Kasperi Kapanen practiced with full contact Wednesday, and could return to the lineup tonight.
By the Numbers:
Devils forward Yegor Sharangovich has a three-game scoring streak for five points (2G-3A). He posted a shorthanded goal against Pittsburgh Tuesday for his 11th of the season. The 11 goals rank second on the team, three behind Miles Wood.
Crosby has the most points against New Jersey (81) among all active players, eight ahead of second-place Alex Ovechkin. Crosby has 36 goals and 45 assists in 72 career games, including his first-career NHL point (assist) on Oct. 5, 2005.
Injury Update:
Devils:Blackwood (upper-body), Bratt (lower-body), Maltsev (COVID-19 close contact), Smith (upper-body), Subban (COVID-19 protocol), Zacha (knee).
Penguins:Gaudreau (lower-body), Kapanen (lower-body), Malkin (lower-body), Tanev (upper-body).