Pittsburgh Penguins vs. New Jersey Devils: Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 1/22/2023

Time: 2 p.m. ET

Venue: Prudential Center, Newark, NJ

Where to watch: MSGSN, NHLN, ATTSN-PT, SN

DraftKings: Devils -140, Penguins +120

FanDuel: Devils -140, Penguins +120

BetMGM: Devils -140, Penguins +120

Caesars: Devils -140, Penguins +120

Penguins: 23-15-7

Devils: 29-12-4

The Pittsburgh Penguins will be playing the New Jersey Devils on Sunday, January 22 in Newark, New Jersey. 

The Pittsburgh Penguins won against the Ottawa Senators last Friday, January 20 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with a score of 4-1. The Pittsburgh Penguins currently rank 5th in the Metropolitan Division. Tristan Jarry made 44 saves in his return from a lower-body injury. Jake Guentzel had two goals and an assist, and Bryan Rust had two assists for the Penguins.

"I thought I was seeing the puck well," Jarry said. "I've had a little bit of time off. Obviously, it's never easy having to watch games and it's never easy having to watch guys go out every night and give it their all, and you can't be out there with them."

Rickard Rakell and Jason Zucker scored 43 seconds apart to give Pittsburgh a two-goal lead in the first period.

"It's just fun," Zucker said. "Scoring goals is why you play the game. Winning games, winning Cups, that's the goal around here. For me, I know scoring helps win games."

Guentzel pushed it to 3-0 at 17:12 of the second period, taking a pass from Rust to the right face-off circle for a snapshot.

"I thought there were momentum swings in the game," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "There were times where Ottawa had it, there were times where we had it. I thought the shots came in flurries. They tended to come in flurries when they did."

The Pittsburgh Penguins have won four of their last 10 games. 

The New Jersey Devils lost against the Seattle Kraken last Thursday, January 19 in Seattle, Washington with a score of 4-3 in overtime. The New Jersey Devils currently rank 2nd in the Metropolitan Division. Nico Hischier, Erik Haula and Damon Severson scored for the Devils. Mackenzie Blackwood made 36 saves.

"We've found ways to win. It turns out to be a good trip. You're happy when you can get that amount of points," New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. "We're not happy with the way we're playing, didn't like the way we played tonight, lost too many battles, gave up too many situations that are preventable, and I think we've been kind of trending, playing a bad period and being able to come back, and I think it finally caught up with us tonight."

Haula tied it 2-2 at 6:04 of the third period, beating Jones with a backhand on a breakaway for a short-handed goal.

"There was a loose puck and I just won the battle," Haula said. "I just took off, got a chance. It took a good bounce after a good play by [Dawson Mercer]. … Nine points out of 10 on this long road trip is good. Now we head home and have a few games before break, so we're going to try and focus on that."

The New Jersey Devils have won seven of their last 10 games.

Prediction

The Devils are still playing well and entering the second half, that has to be good for those in attendance. If they can start propelling this to a strong finish toward the All-Star break, they're going to be sitting pretty. Devils 4, Penguins 2

Betting trends

Penguins have lost seven of their last eight conference games.

Penguins have lost six of their last seven road games.

Devils are 1-8 in their last nine home games.

Road team has won the last five meetings.

Penguins:

Jake Guentzel -- Sidney Crosby -- Bryan Rust

Jason Zucker -- Evgeni Malkin -- Rickard Rakell

Brock McGinn -- Teddy Blueger -- Jeff Carter

Drew O'Connor -- Jonathan Gruden -- Danton Heinen

Marcus Pettersson -- Jeff Petry

Brian Dumoulin -- Mark Friedman

Pierre-Olivier Joseph -- Chad Ruhwedel

Tristan Jarry

Devils:

Ondrej Palat -- Nico Hischier -- Jesper Bratt

Erik Haula -- Jack Hughes -- Dawson Mercer

Yegor Sharangovich -- Jesper Boqvist -- Tomas Tatar

Miles Wood -- Michael McLeod -- Nathan Bastian

Jonas Siegenthaler -- Dougie Hamilton

Ryan Graves -- Damon Severson

Nikita Okhotiuk -- Brendan Smith

Vitek Vanecek