Pens net shutout vs. Devils
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — "Sid The Kid" and the Pittsburgh Penguins are showing signs a return to the postseason might be special.
A season after losing 60 games and missing the playoffs for the fourth straight year, Sidney Crosby and his young teammates have to be considered a Stanley Cup threat, especially based on the past two days.
Backup goalie Jocelyn Thibault stopped 25 shots for his first shutout in more than three years, and the Penguins completed a two-night sweep of the Eastern Conference's top two teams with a 3-0 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night.
Twenty-four hours earlier, the Penguins beat Buffalo 5-4 in a shootout in a game in which they outshot the Sabres 38-19.
"We need to start to get into the playoff mode," Penguins coach Michel Therrien said. "We have to start thinking about ourselves and having the right attitude. Again, we had the right attitude to approach that game. Those young guys, they keep surprising a lot of people."
A couple of older guys — Thibault and Jarkko Ruutu — also contributed to the Penguins' third straight win and fifth in six games (5-0-1).
Thibault, 32, withstood a slow start by the Penguins and some early pressure by the Devils. Ruutu, 31, got the winning goal on a deflection off a Devils stick and then set up an insurance score by Erik Christensen in the third period.
"It's awesome, the past two nights," Thibault said after giving starter Marc-Andre Fleury a break. "I thought we played great last night against Buffalo even though it was 5-4, and to come here to New Jersey and shut them out, it's tremendous. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but this is a good start."
Crosby, who earned his NHL-leading 104th point on Ruutu's goal late in the second period, said the Penguins are starting to play a full 60 minutes of hockey every game.
"Every night is new," Crosby said. "We can't sit on this and think we've accomplished everything. It's still a big climb for us."
Martin Brodeur made 19 saves for New Jersey, which had a two-game winning streak snapped and failed to tie Buffalo for first overall in the East. The Sabres have a game in hand.
"I think we missed a bunch of good opportunities early in the game," said Devils center John Madden, who missed the net on a second-period breakaway when the game was scoreless. "They came out flat and we missed some good opportunities. They just kept chipping away, the way they should have after their game last night. They kept putting the puck deep and we kept turning it over."
Thibault played a good positional game in posting his first shutout since Oct. 8, 2003, stopping Sergei Brylin and Zach Parise on good chances in the first period, and Scott Gomez in close after the center picked up a loose puck and broke in.
"You want to earn the start, so every game you have to be sharp when you're the backup," said Thibault, 5-2 since Feb. 18. "If you're not, you might not play for a while."
The Penguins' two third-period goals were well-earned in handing New Jersey its fourth straight loss at home.
"We've been struggling playing 60 minutes, and the last two nights we have done that," Penguins defenseman Ryan Whitney said. "It's a good effort against the top two teams in the conference. So it's a good feeling to know we can play with anyone."
