NEWARK, N.J. -- It was just a few weeks ago, when his entire No. 2 line was injured, that Ron Hextall made it known that he might be in the market to add some offense before the NHL trade deadline.
That problem was solved, well before the late-night acquisition of Jeff Carter from Los Angeles was finalized. And it didn't even cost Hextall any conditional draft choices, the way Carter did.
All it took was for Colton Sceviour to get in touch with his inner goal-scorer. You know, the one who'd been almost a total stranger for most of his pro career before making contact on both sides of a day spent on the waiver wire.
Sceviour scored the Penguins' first two goals in what became a 5-2 victory over the Devils at Prudential Center Sunday night, giving him three for the weekend.
Not a bad evening's work for a guy who had scored twice in the previous 30 games and who would have been out of the organization by midday if another club had claimed him.
Sceviour, though, insisted that being on waivers hadn't really been much of a issue for him, in part because so few players have changed teams that way this season, a reflection of how many clubs are short on cash and salary-cap space.
Plus, things have been going pretty well for his current employer, aside from a couple of recent hiccups in Boston and New York.
"We've been winning hockey games and I've been contributing, helping the team do so, and that's all I'v been focused on," he said.
Sceviour rang up his goals in the first five minutes, 26 seconds of the game, which meant he had 54-plus minutes to try to complete his second career hat trick.
It didn't happen, although Sceviour insisted that he wasn't particularly upset about that.
"That'd be awesome," he said. "That'd be exciting. But two goals is hard to get in this league. Three goals is obviously harder, so I can't complain about two goals."
Jake Guentzel wasn't upset about scoring a pair, either.
And a good night for him got even better a few hours after the game, when a scoring change gave him the third hat trick of his career.
That goal that was switched by the off-ice officials proved to be the game-winner. It came with 39.3 seconds to go in the second period, when Guentzel set a terrific screen in front of Devils goalie Mackenzie Blackwood and deflected a Bryan Rust shot past him.
The goal initially was credited to Rust.
The Devils challenged that the goal shouldn't count because of goaltender interference; after a lengthy video review, referees Trevor Hanson and Dean Morton disagreed, and the Penguins had not only a 3-1 lead, but a power play awarded because of the failed challenge.
They compounded Devils coach Lindy Ruff's frustration with the non-call by getting a man-advantage goal from Guentzel as the penalty was about to expire.
Watching all of that likely helped to convince Mike Sullivan to not challenge for goaltender interference when Devils defenseman P.K. Subban appeared to push not only the puck, but Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry, into the net at 7:30 of the third.
The goal immediately was waved off on the ice, but the NHL's Situation Room in Toronto initiated a review and concluded that the puck had crossed the goal like "in a legal fashion."
Sullivan clearly had a different assessment of that sequence, but was keenly aware that if he lost the challenge and New Jersey was awarded a power play, the Devils could get a two-fer -- just as the Penguins had a short time earlier -- and be within a goal with more than half a period remaining.
"The call on the ice was that the goalie got pushed into the net," Sullivan said. "Therefore, the goal was deemed not a goal. I think their interpretation was that (on) the original save, (the puck) crossed the goal line. Having said that, Tristan got pushed in on the original puck, as well. I'm not sure why the burden of responsibility was on me to me to decide whether it was goalie interference or not goalie interference.
"The reason I didn't challenge it was, we have a two-goal lead with 10 minutes to go in the hockey game and if I challenge it and we're wrong, now we're on a penalty-kill scenario after they score. It could potentially be a two-goal swing. So that's the only reason I didn't challenge it."
His decision was validated when the Devils were unable to generate another goal and Guentzel sealed the outcome with an empty-netter at 18:37.
The victory was the Penguins' third in a row and fourth on the six-game swing that ended in Newark.
"Good road trip for us," Guentzel said.
They remain in third place in the East Division, two points behind the New York Islanders and Washington, but have shrunk their magic number for clinching a playoff berth to 19.
While Jarry, who finished with 28 saves, deserves much of the credit for this victory, the fourth line, which had Teddy Blueger between Radim Zohorna and Sceviour, earned a healthy share, too.
The unit was anchored by a strong performance from Blueger, who had missed the previous 13 games because of an unspecified upper-body injury. He logged 12 minutes, 36 seconds of ice time, had an assist and was 6-8 on faceoffs.
"I thought Teddy was solid," Sullivan said. "He's just a good 200-foot player, on both sides of the puck. He defended hard for us. He's got good puck poise. He doesn't throw pucks away. ... For missing the amount of time that he missed, I thought he stepped in and had a strong game."
In addition to returning after a lengthy absence, Blueger had to adapt to new linemates. He has spent most of the season between Zach Aston-Reese and Brandon Tanev.
"I was a little nervous, I guess," Blueger said. "The first period, the pace felt really fast, but after that, it slowed down and I just tried to play my game."
All while Sceviour, a blue-collar winger who had 61 goals in his first 848 games, was playing someone else's.
Auston Matthews' game, maybe, Or perhaps Connor McDavid's. Or anyone else who doesn't routinely go for weeks -- or months -- at a time without scoring.
But while Sceviour's personal stats -- five goals and three assists in 32 games -- aren't terribly impressive, teammates say his approach to his job is.
"He's a guy who comes to the rink every day with a smile and works hard," Guentzel said. "It's always nice to see a guy like that get rewarded."
MORE FROM THE GAME
• The Penguins scored on their only power play, giving them at least one man-advantage goal in five consecutive games and eight of the past nine.
• Had Sullivan opted to challenge Subban's goal, history says he would have had a pretty good chance of succeeding. His is 4-for-4 on challenges during the past two seasons.
• The Penguins have scored five or more goals in 12 of their 42 games.
• Guentzel's hat trick means he has scored 20 or more goals in four consecutive seasons.
• Brian Dumoulin's assist on Guentzel's first goal extended his scoring streak to a career-high five games.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Video highlights
• NHL scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
THE THREE STARS
As selected at Prudential Center:
1. Colton Sceviour, Penguins
2. Tristan Jarry, Penguins
3. Bryan Rust, Penguins
THE INJURIES
• Center Evgeni Malkin is week-to-week because of an unspecified lower-body injury sustained March 16.
• Winger Brandon Tanev is week-to-week with an unspecified upper-body injury sustained April 3.
• Winger Anthony Angello has missed the past two games because of an unspecified upper-body injury.
• Defenseman Mark Friedman is day-to-day with an unspecified upper-body injury sustained March 4, but has been skating.
• Forward Kasperi Kapanen is week-to-week with a lower-body injury sustained March 24 and hasn't skated yet.
THE LINEUPS
Sullivan’s lines and pairings:
Jake Guentzel-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Jason Zucker-Jared McCann-Evan Rodrigues
Zach Aston-Reese-Frederick Gaudreau-Sam Lafferty
Radim Zohorna-Teddy Blueger-Colton Sceviour
Brian Dumoulin-Kris Letang
Mike Matheson-Cody Ceci
Marcus Pettersson-John Marino
And for Lindy Ruff's Devils:
Janne Kuokkanen-Jack Hughes-Yegor Sharangovich
Miles Wood-Pavel Zacha-Jesper Bratt
Andreas Johnsson-Jesper Boqvist-Marian Studenic
Mikhail Maltsev-Michael McLeod-Tyce Thompson
Will Butcher-P.K. Subban
Ryan Murray-Damon Severson
Ty Smith-Sami Vatanen
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins will be off Monday and practice Tuesday and Wednesday at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex before facing Philadelphia Thursday at 7:08 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena.
THE CONTENT
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