No letup this time as Penguins rout Devils

Even after seeing his team have a sputter or two (or six in one period alone) during recent games, Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan suggests his squad is not in dire need of any major rewiring or retrofitting.

Just a few reminders of what works.

“It’s not like this group doesn’t know how to play, it doesn’t know the details of the team game that gives us the best chance to be successful out there,” Sullivan said via video conference. “We’ve had a lot of success playing the game a certain way.”

That way was very evident Thursday as the Penguins trounced the underwhelming New Jersey Devils, 5-1, at PPG Paints Arena.

Thursday’s triumph was a considerable improvement over their near-collapse Tuesday, when they held off the Devils during a 7-6 home win in which New Jersey scored all six of its goals in the third period.

On Thursday, the Penguins built a substantial lead and kept it.

“We did a better job,” captain Sidney Crosby said. “We feel like we can still do a better job as we move along. But it was definitely an improvement.”

Crosby seemed determined to not let his team experience a repeated slip-up Thursday from the opening faceoff. On his first shift, he slammed Devils defenseman Ryan Murray with a stiff hit and generated two shots, the second of which put his team up 1-0 only 41 seconds into regulation. It was Crosby’s 19th goal of the season.

The Devils responded at 12:34 when defenseman Matt Tennyson scored his first NHL goal since Dec. 5, 2015.

After that, it was all Penguins.

They went ahead 2-1 at 17:46 of the first period. Taking a pass at the right point of the offensive zone, defenseman Cody Ceci chopped a slapper through traffic that beat Devils goaltender Aaron Dell’s blocker on the far side for his fourth goal of the season as well as his 10th point (two goals, eight assists) in the past 13 games.

It became 3-1 at 12:03 of the third off a two-on-one rush. From the left circle, Penguins forward Jake Guentzel slipped a pass to the right circle, where forward Bryan Rust one-touched a forehand shot over Dell’s glove hand on the near side for his 19th goal.

It took only 28 seconds after that for the Penguins to strike again. Taking a pass in the neutral zone from Penguins forward Teddy Blueger, forward Kasperi Kapanen, back in the lineup after missing 13 games because of a suspected left foot injury, surged into the offensive zone. Kapanen challenged Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler off the right wing and fired a wrister through Dell’s legs for his eighth goal.

Dell was pulled in favor of backup Scott Wedgewood, but there was little the Devils could do to stop the Penguins, who went up by four with a short-handed goal at 15:59 of the second.

Late on a penalty kill sequence, Blueger created a two-on-one rush with forward Colton Sceviour. Looking off his shot by focusing on Sceviour, Blueger ripped a wrister through Wedgewood’s legs for his seventh goal.

Much like Tuesday, the Penguins were up big with 20 minutes to go.

Unlike Tuesday, they clamped down.

“We managed the puck better,” Blueger said. “Tuesday night, we were a little loose. Getting out of our zone, I thought the wall play was pretty good in the third. For the most part, we kind of limited their (offensive) zone time. We were harder on pucks, winning more battles. They did have a couple of good chances, but obviously (goaltender Tristan Jarry) made big saves. For the most part, we limited them, especially compared to the last game.”

Jarry, who looked beleaguered during the third period Tuesday, was much more impressive Thursday as he made 30 saves on 31 shots and earned his 20th win of the season, albeit in a very different fashion than how he got his 19th victory.

“We’re a good team,” Kapanen said. “We know how to play well in the third period with a lead. Tuesday wasn’t the best example, but I think today, we did a better job. We’ve still got room to improve there, too. This is a big two points for us.”