Crosby's three points spark Penguins to win against Devils

NEWARK, N.J. --Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists for the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 6-4 win against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Friday.

"It's probably not our best game, but we did some good things when we needed to," said Crosby, the Pittsburgh captain.
Bryan Rust had two goals and an assist, Jared McCann had a goal and an assist, and Casey DeSmith made 27 saves for the Penguins (26-13-2), who won 5-2 at the New York Rangers on Thursday. They have won seven of nine games and are 8-2-1 in their past 11.
"It's hard to win consistently in this league if you don't get contributions throughout your lineup," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. "There's so many little things that add up to big things. For me, I think that's just an indication of the contributions that we're getting throughout our lineup, and I think it's translating into some results here.
"We're by no means satisfied. We know there's another level to this team."
Miles Wood scored two goals, Jack Hughes scored in his 100th NHL game, and Mackenzie Blackwood made 21 saves for the Devils (14-19-6), who are 1-3-2 in their past six. They won 6-3 at the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday.
"You can't play each game with your A-game, but they know how to win with their B-game," Wood said. "I feel like when we're playing well, we're hard to beat, but our bad games, to be honest, are so far off. It's hard to play each game at your best, but you can't give a C-effort. You got to play with your B-game and try to win with that."

The teams will finish the two-game set here Sunday.
Wood scored at the right post to give the Devils a 1-0 lead at 3:01 of the first period. McCann scored a power-play goal to tie it 1-1 at 10:00.
Brian Dumoulin gave the Penguins a 2-1 lead when his shot from the left point deflected off the arm of Devils forward Janne Kuokkanen at 19:13.
Hughes scored on a rebound for a 2-2 tie at 5:39 of the second period.
DeSmith made a diving blocker save against Jesper Boqvist at the bottom of the right face-off circle at 8:55.
"He just stuck with it, kept battling," Crosby said of DeSmith. "Sometimes technique kind of goes out the window and you're just desperate. They were good at getting pucks to the net and they created some good zone time, so he had to make the first, and sometimes, second save like that."

Colton Sceviour scored on a waist-high backhand from the slot to give Pittsburgh a 3-2 lead at 17:36. It was his first goal in 27 games; he last scored Jan. 19 in a 5-4 overtime win against the Washington Capitals.
"Anytime you score in this league, it's exciting," Sceviour said. "It's been a little while, but we won the game, and that's most important."
Rust made it 4-2 with a power-play goal at 4:06 of the third period. Crosby scored on a wrist shot from the slot for a 5-2 lead at 10:02.
Boqvist's shot deflected off Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang in the slot to pull New Jersey within 5-3 at 11:34.
Wood was credited with his second goal when Dumoulin banked the puck into the net off DeSmith's right leg to make it 5-4 at 18:24.
"We showed some good fight, but when it comes down to it, we had too many sloppy (penalty) calls on us," Wood said.
Rust scored into an empty net with 25 seconds left for the 6-4 final. The forward has scored 201 points (94 goals, 107 assists) in 349 NHL games.
"It's a pretty cool milestone," Rust said of reaching 200 points. "When I first got in the League, I was just trying to make a name for myself, and every time you reach a milestone you kind of just look back on your career and see how far you've developed as a player."
NOTES: Crosby scored at least three points for the 150th time in his NHL career, tying Bryan Trottier (New York Islanders) for the seventh-most with one franchise. ... Hughes has scored 21 points (nine goals, 12 assists) in 39 games this season; the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft scored 21 points (seven goals, 14 assists) in 61 games as a rookie last season.