The Pittsburgh Penguins traveled to Newark for their latest match against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center. Both the Penguins and the Devils were without their captains on Tuesday night. Sidney Crosby has been sidelined with a high ankle sprain and will very likely be out for the next month and Jamie Langenbrunner was out of the lineup with the flu. Even without their hockey phenom, the Pittsburgh Penguins were able to advance ahead of the Division at the beginning of the final stretch of the season with Evgeni Malkin stepping up his play in light of the injured reserve list. Tuesday night was no exception, as the Penguins defeated the Devils 4-2.

In the first period, Mike Rupp started off the scoring with a power play goal at 8:54 with only two seconds remaining in Jordan Staal’s high-sticking minor, marking his first goal of the season. Rupp was able to get the shot through a pileup in front of Ty Conklin’s net and inside the left post. This was Rupp's first point in 32 games this season, giving New Jersey its eighth tally on the man advantage in the last three games (8-for-16).

In the second period, Staal gave the Penguins their first goal of the game at 1:12, tying up the game at 1-1. At 13:49, the Devils gained an edge over the Penguins when Rod Pelley’s face-off win brought the puck back to Rupp, who then sailed the puck towards the net, deflecting off a Penguins player and over the right pad of Conklin, giving Rupp his second goal of the season. This was the fourth two-goal game in Rupp’s career. "Obviously, it's been a long time," Rupp said of his two goals. "The last 10, 12 games, it felt like I have had opportunities and it feels good to finally put them in, I guess."

Fifty-two seconds later, Penguins’ Erik Christensen answered Rupp’s tally with a one handed backhander around Brodeur, tying the game up at 14:41. Pittsburgh’s Ryan Malone broke the tie at 16:13 with a quick snap shot in front of Brodeur’s net, his 16th goal of the season, giving the Penguins the lead, 3-2.

At 17:24, Brian Gionta delivered a hard hit to Jeff Taffe against the boards, bringing Taffe down. Two Penguins players went after Gionta, which brought a mob of red and white jerseys on top of each other as each team tried to defend their teammates. Gionta received a penalty for boarding and appeared to be slightly injured (left leg), but continued to play through the end of the game.

In the third period, Malone scored the game-winner, a power play goal, at 5:21 from a wrist shot at the top of Brodeur’s crease, his 13th goal of the season.

Notes

David Clarkson, the lone representative for the New Jersey Devils during the All-Star weekend, became an uncle for the second time on Saturday. He was given the start during the YoungStars game and scored the first goal of the game for the East.

The New Jersey Devils slipped into third place in the Atlantic Division following Tuesday night’s loss. The Philadelphia Flyers took sole possession of first place after their win against the L.A. Kings, while the Penguins settled into second place. The New York Rangers visit the Prudential Center on Friday. This season, the Devils have not been able to notch a win against any of the New York area teams.