Penguins top Devils in OT, gain in Metropolitan

NEWARK, N.J. -- Sidney Crosby scored 19 seconds into overtime to move the Pittsburgh Penguins within five points of first place in the Metropolitan Division with a 4-3 win against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Thursday.
Patric Hornqvist and Kris Letang each had a goal and an assist, Conor Sheary scored, and Matt Murray made 28 saves for the Penguins (44-28-6), who hold second place, one point ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Washington Capitals are first in the division.

Blake Coleman, Kyle Palmieri and Taylor Hall scored, and Keith Kinkaid made 31 saves for the Devils (40-28-9), who hold the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference, three points ahead of the Florida Panthers, who have one game in hand.
WATCH: [All Penguins vs. Devils highlights]
Pittsburgh's win was its first against New Jersey in four games this season (1-2-1).
Crosby collected a pass from Letang at the Devils blue line, skated into the left circle and hit the far post before batting the rebound out of midair past Kinkaid, who lost his first game in four straight starts.
"I just tried to stay with it. It's fortunate it came back to me since I saw it go off the post," Crosby said.

Kinkaid said, "It's pretty simple, there's only one player in the League that is going to be able to do that, and unfortunately it was him."
It was Crosby's fifth goal during a five-game goal streak, and his third overtime goal of the season. Crosby passed Evgeni Malkin with his 13th regular-season overtime goal in his NHL career, most in Penguins history.
"[Crosby's] goal was incredible," Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin said. "You don't expect him to score that one after he hit the post, and he does. It kind of leaves you in awe. We see it a lot, but every time he does it and does something special it's crazy to see. It just speaks to what an incredible player he is."
Hornqvist scored off a shot from the point that hit the left post and then the back of Kinkaid's left pad before crossing the line at 11:26 of the third period to pull the Penguins into a 3-3 tie.

Coleman gave the Devils a 3-2 lead when he scored off a backhand at 5:11 of the third.
"That's a good team over there," Palmieri said. "They know how to win at this time of year. We'll take the point and reset and shore some things up.
"[Crosby] has shown a couple of times over the last week or so he has some good hand-eye. It's a tough bounce for us that he got into a position to make that kind of play. It's a skill play from one of the most skilled players in the game."
The Penguins took a 2-1 lead at 6:59 of the second when Letang scored off a slap shot from the right circle. Hall extended his point streak to six games (three goals, seven assists) when he pulled the Devils into a 2-2 tie with a power-play goal at 14:41.
Sheary scored off a snap shot at the left post after taking a pass from Hornqvist to give the Penguins a 1-1 tie at 12:44 of the first period. The goal came 25 seconds after Palmieri had given the Devils a 1-0 lead after taking a pass from Nico Hischier and beating Murray between the pads for his fourth goal in three games.

Goal of the game

Crosby's goal 19 seconds into overtime.

Save of the game

Murray save on Hall 4:40 into the first period.

Highlight of the game

Hornqvist's goal at 11:26 of the third period.

They said it

"Our team is at its best when we're aggressive; our best defense is when we have the puck or are pursuing the puck. Defense doesn't take place just in your own zone. I think when you look at the way our team is built, that's how we're built to play. The game plan for our team is to play an in-your-face game." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan
"It's hard not to scoreboard watch and look at what other teams are doing, but this time of year it's best to just focus on what you're doing as a team and try to get as many points as you can. The last thing you want to do is rely on teams to lose for you. You want to do your own work." -- Devils forward Taylor Hall

Need to know

Crosby has 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in his past 11 games. ... The Penguins were 0-for-7 on the power play against the Devils in their four games. ... Hischier (18 goals, 32 assists) had an assist to become the seventh rookie in franchise history to reach 50 points in a season, and first since Adam Henrique in 2011-12 (16-35-51). ... Hischier and Will Butcher, who had an assist, are the first pair of rookies in franchise history to each score at least 40 points. Butcher (3-37-40) is the fourth defenseman to do so and first since Scott Niedermayer in 1992-93 (11-29-40).

What's next

Penguins: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN360, CITY, TVAS, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV)
Devils: Host the New York Islanders on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; MSG+, MSG+ 2, NHL.TV)