Charles LeClaire – USA TODAY Sports
Despite setting the tone early with a heavy-weight brawl between Robert Bortuzzo and Ryan Carter within the first four seconds of the game, the Pittsburgh Penguins were still outplayed by the New Jersey Devils and ultimately lost the second game of the home-and-home series.
More disciplined, the Penguins still struggled with getting past the Devils defense, which is a typical Pittsburgh-New Jersey matchup. James Neal scored the only goal to get the Penguins on the scoreboard within seconds of the second period. If only they could’ve built on the momentum the goal created, the end result may have been different for Pittsburgh. The Devils held both superstar centers, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, goal-less which is something that hasn’t occurred since earlier in the season but that hasn’t always spelled losses for the Penguins.
The Penguins third line seemed to be the one with the most consistency and the one working hard to pull out a win from start to finish in this game. Led by Craig Adams, this line continually leaves it all on the ice for the team in every game. And Adams is definitely a player who is certainly underrated but whose dedication to the team is unquestionable.
The Penguins had a day off yesterday and will get back to work today before facing the Ottawa Senators at home on Wednesday evening. The game is set to start at 7:00 pm (est) and will be broadcast on TSN and ROOT Sports – Pittsburgh.
Stephanie Lewark is a featured Pittsburgh Penguins columnist for RantSports.com. If you enjoy her posts, you can follow her on Twitter (@steelcitysports), check out her personal Facebook page (via Networked Blogs), visit her Tumblr page, or add her to your Google+ circle.
