New Jersey Devils goalie Scott Wedgewood faced a wrist shot from Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby eight seconds into his second NHL start Thursday. Wedgewood stopped that shot and went on to stop all 38 other Penguins shots to earn his first NHL shutout and help the Devils to a 3-0 win at Consol Energy Center. With Cory Schneider recovering from an MCL sprain, Wedgewood made his NHL debut in a 2-1 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday. He has allowed one goal, to Blue Jackets forward Jared Boll, on 67 shots through two starts.
The Penguins tested Wedgewood in the first period, when he made 14 saves. His most impressive save came 24 seconds into the second period when Crosby cruised toward Wedgewood on a 3-on-1, kept the puck and was denied on a point-blank wrist shot to preserve a 2-0 Devils lead.
New Jersey has won five of its past seven games (5-2-0) since losing 6-1 to Pittsburgh on March 6. Devils coach John Hynes said he has been pleased with how his team has responded to several recent injuries. Pittsburgh saw their six-game winning streak end and finished a stretch of nine consecutive games against Metropolitan Division opponents 7-2-0. The Penguins are third in the division, four points behind the New York Rangers and one point ahead of the New York Islanders.
Kyle Palmieri scored two goals, including 26 seconds into the game to give the Devils a 1-0 lead. Travis Zajac sent a pass off the near wall that ricocheted to Palmieri streaking past Kris Letang. Palmieri held off Letang and shot under Fleury's left pad for his 28th goal. With Beau Bennett, who returned from an upper-body injury, in the penalty box for holding, Palmieri scored to extend the lead to 2-0. Defenseman Damon Severson set up Palmieri for a one-time slap shot that avoided Fleury's glove and made its way into the upper-right corner of the net eight seconds into the power play with 6:52 remaining in the first period. Palmieri has at least one point in four consecutive games and has two goals in two of the four games. He leads the Devils with 29 goals and 52 points.
Adam Henrique scored his 27th of the season, 9:57 into the third period.
Crosby's 12-game scoring streak (six goals, 20 points), which was the NHL's longest active streak, ended; he failed to score for the first time since Feb. 27.
Pens Quotes
Mike Sullivan: "We had some quality chances, we just couldn't seem to get a goal. I think if we could've scored there, it would've given our team some life. We just couldn't seem to get one. Sid has a great chance on a 3-on-1, we had extended time in the offensive zone where we couldn't seem to get it behind [Wedgewood]."Sidney Crosby: "We didn't play well enough here. That's what we have to focus on, is making sure we're better. … We were well rested. We understand how important the games are at this point, but we didn't play well enough. So, we didn't deserve to win that one."
Other Results
Wednesday, March 23Ottawa @ NY Islanders 1-3
Boston @ NY Rangers 2-5
Thursday, March 24
Florida @ Boston 4-1
Carolina @ Columbus 3-2
Anaheim @ Toronto 5-6 OT
Montreal @ Detroit 3-4
Vancouver @ Nashville 2-3 SO
Philadelphia @ Colorado 4-2
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