PITTSBURGH, PA - Penguins forward Connor Clifton broke a 1-1 draw early in the third period and Egor Chinakhov doubled the lead just 50 seconds later, a quick two-goal burst that proved to be the difference in a 4-1 loss for New Jersey on Thursday night.

“It’s the same story,” head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “Our third periods have just been unacceptable. Maybe tonight it’s a little bit of a fatigue factor in there, when the stakes of the game get higher and the other team pushes, we just haven’t been able to dig in and find another level.”

"Same story, right?” Brett Pesce said, echoing his head coach. “I don’t have many words to say, it’s tough, if feels lke we’re in every game, we’re a bounce away and it just doesn’t seem to go our way. It’s tough right now.”

The Penguins grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first period on a power-play goal by Tommy Novak. New Jersey answered in the second when Paul Cotter tipped a Dougie Hamilton point shot past the Artur Silvos in the Pittsburgh net to tie the game. The goal was Cotter’s first since Dec. 13, 2025, against Anaheim, snapping a 23-game drought and briefly injecting life into the Devils’ bench.

But the third period told a familiar story. Defensive lapses and a momentum swing the Devils couldn’t recover from allowed Pittsburgh to seize control, sending New Jersey to two straight losses out of the Olympic break.

“It’s just very frustrating because it’s not that we’ve been outplayed, the last two games," captain Nico Hischier said. "But we lost both hockey games. I think it’s just still gripping our sticks, myself included.”

Blake Lizotte added an empty-net goal for the Penguins with 1:59 to play.

Here are some observations from the game:

• When Jack Hughes returned to the Devils lineup from the Olympics, head coach Sheldon Keefe said he didn't expect to have to limit him in any way, even despite the exhaustion Hughes must be facing. 

Hughes played 8:39 to lead both rosters after 20 minutes and, after 40 minutes, continued to be the game leader with 17:27. For a player operating on extremely limited rest, from both the Olympics and the aftermath celebration, Hughes's conditioning is rather remarkable.  

• The second period featured very little five-on-five action, with more than half of the period played on special teams. The two teams combined for six penalties, totaling 12 minutes in the box, essentially swallowing up the period.

Jacob Markstrom was especially sharp during that stretch. He turned aside everything on the Penguins’ two second-period power plays and then came up with four huge saves while his team was short-handed, including stops on clean breakaways and dangerous odd-man rushes.

"He battled; he gave us every opportunity," Keefe said of his netminder. 

• The cheers from opposing NHL fans continue to follow Jack Hughes. It's rare you'll hear the home crowd cheer loudly for an opposing player, but we you score a goal of Hughes's magnitude, it's bound to happen. It started, first, during a game preview segment on the scoreboard, where he was named as a Devils impact player to watch. Devils and Penguins fans alike roared out cheers and applause for the 24-year-old. 

It happened again when he was announced in the starting lineup, and a third time during a pregame celebration honoring all the Olympians playing in the game.