The Penguins visit the Devils on April 9, 2026, at the Prudential Center in Newark, with puck drop set for 7:00 PM ET. Pittsburgh will carry a 40-22-16 record into a matchup that can be watched on SportsNet Pittsburgh and heard on 105.9 The X and the Penguins app.
One reason this game has bite is Bryan Rust. He has 34 points in 43 career games against New Jersey, with 18 goals and 16 assists, and has picked up points in six of his last 11 games against the Devils. Pittsburgh has also had the upper hand in the series more broadly, with points in 17 of its last 25 games against New Jersey dating to Mar. 20, 2021, and a 7-3-2 mark in its last 12 visits to the Prudential Center.
The Devils enter at 40-35-3, but Pittsburgh has been the more productive team lately on the road, taking points in five of its last six road games. That fits a season in which the Penguins have piled up 277 goals, second-most in the NHL and their highest total since the 2016-17 campaign. Under Dan Muse, they have already passed last season’s win total, and they are on pace to finish as the highest-scoring team of the Sidney Crosby era on a goals-per-game basis.
The scoring list around Crosby’s club keeps going. Rickard Rakell has points in 16 of his last 17 games, is on an eight-game point streak and has 13 goals and 10 assists over that stretch. Anthony Mantha has points in 11 of his last 15 games and has set career highs with 31 goals, 30 assists and 61 points. Erik Karlsson has 29 points in his last 21 games, the most among NHL defensemen over that span, while Sidney Crosby is one goal short of 30 and would reach that mark for the 14th time in his career and the fifth straight season if he scores.
There is also a younger layer to the Penguins’ attack. Ben Kindel has 34 points and 17 goals, tied for fifth among NHL rookies, along with four game-winning goals and a chance to move within one of the league single-season record for an 18-year-old. Elmer Soderblom has eight points in 16 games with Pittsburgh, and Egor Chinakhov has 33 points in 40 games since joining the club, including 19 points in his last 17 games. On the blue line, Sam Girard has four points and a plus-7 rating in his last five games.
The tension for Pittsburgh is simple: the numbers say the offense is real, but road games against a familiar opponent rarely stay tidy. New Jersey has enough offense of its own to make this a test, and the Penguins will need the scoring depth that has carried them all season to keep their edge in Newark.