Penguins clinch first playoff berth since 2022 with 5-2 win over Devils

King Jemison, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Apr 9, 2026

Published in Hockey

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NEWARK, N.J. — The Penguins were projected to be one of the worst teams in the league this season. They missed the memo.

Pittsburgh clinched its first postseason berth since 2022 with a 5-2 win over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday at the Prudential Center.

Egor Chinakhov had three points for the Penguins. Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Erik Karlsson each had two.

Stuart Skinner started in net for Pittsburgh and played well. He had been hit in the face with a puck while on the bench Saturday in a game against the Florida Panthers. The eye injury he suffered caused him to miss a planned start Sunday, but he returned to practice Tuesday.

The Penguins sit in second in the Metropolitan Division. They’ll most likely play the Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets or New York Islanders in the first round of the playoffs.

The Devils dominated the opening minutes. Timo Meier rang the inside of the right post on a breakaway 47 seconds in, and Skinner had to make multiple early saves.

But the Penguins scored the first goal anyway. Kris Letang found Chinakhov open in the high slot. Jake Allen prepared to save a Chinakhov rocket, but the Russian winger instead dished at the last moment to Bryan Rust.

Rust fired in his 29th goal of the season on a nearly open net.

Pittsburgh took over the first-period action from there but was unable to extend the lead. Skinner held up against several odd-man rushes.

The Devils carried play for the first half of the second period and were finally able to pay it off on the scoreboard just before the midpoint of the game.

Noel Acciari and Karlsson appeared to have a miscommunication at the New Jersey blue line and let Paul Cotter get loose on a breakaway. Cotter beat Skinner to tie the game.

As they so often have this season, the Penguins responded with a furious burst. The second line of Tommy Novak, Rickard Rakell and Malkin had been buzzing throughout the game. They flew into the zone on a perfectly executed rush, and Novak paid it off to end a 12-game goal drought.

And less than 10 seconds later, Pittsburgh struck again. Sidney Crosby won the ensuing faceoff, and Ryan Shea launched Chinakhov on a breakaway with a crafty stretch pass.

Chinakhov scored on the backhand for his 18th goal in 41 games with the Penguins.

New Jersey cut into the deficit before the second intermission. U.S. Olympic golden goal hero Jack Hughes, one of the NHL’s leading scorers since the Olympic break, rifled in a shot from the high slot. It appeared to hit Penguins defenseman Parker Wotherspoon in front of the net.

The Devils once again pushed early in the third period, but Skinner delivered some critical saves. Pittsburgh was fortunate to not give up a goal — and then Crosby and Malkin combined for a vintage play to push the lead back to two.

Chinakhov made a beautiful feed to Crosby from behind the net. The Penguins captain nearly beat Allen with a backhand move but lost the puck. Crosby got it back and banked a shot off Allen’s back. Malkin flew in and cleaned it up for his eighth point in the last three games.

Karlsson drove in a long-range empty-netter to give the Penguins a three-goal lead with three minutes remaining.

It was over when…

Karlsson scored on the empty net to secure the Penguins’ playoff berth.

Stat of the game

— 17: Penguins playoff berths in the Big Three era.

Around the boards

— The Penguins sent Sergei Murashov back to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League on Thursday. They had recalled the young netminder as Skinner recovered from the eye injury.

— Forward Avery Hayes reentered the lineup, as Connor Dewar missed the game with a lower-body injury. The team said the fourth-line winger is day to day.

Hayes took Dewar’s spot on the fourth line with Acciari and Elmer Soderblom.

Up next

The Penguins play a weekend back-to-back against Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. The first leg is 3 p.m. Saturday at PPG Paints Arena. The second is 3 p.m. Sunday in Washington.

Though Ovechkin has not announced his plans for next season, this weekend could be his final matchups against the Penguins.