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Devils-Penguins Preview

Jan 25, 2016 - 9:02 PM The All-Star break might not be coming at the best time for the New Jersey Devils and Pittsburgh Penguins.

The surprising Devils try for a season-high fifth straight win Tuesday night as they visit the Pittsburgh Penguins, who appear to be finding their footing of late as the teams close out their pre-All-Star schedules.

New Jersey (25-19-5) has put a 1-5-0 stretch in the past in impressive fashion and can win five in a row for the first time since Feb. 3-10, 2013. Lee Stempniak scored twice against his former team and Cory Schneider made 22 saves in Saturday's 3-1 victory over Winnipeg, which improved the club to 14-9-2 on the road.

The Devils have scored first in each game of the win streak and have totaled 15 goals during their run after managing six in the previous six games.

''It was a huge game, trying to separate ourselves from teams right around us clustered for a playoff spot," said Stempniak, who has scored four times in a three-game goal streak. "It was a great team effort."

Few expected the Devils to be in the thick of the postseason race this season, but the more prolific offense as well as improved defensive play has New Jersey looking like it doesn't need a break right now. It's given up six goals in the past four games after allowing 16 in the six prior ones.

Schneider has posted a 1.51 goals-against average in his last six starts, and he's expected be in net to try for a third consecutive shutout of the Penguins. He beat them 4-0 with 21 saves Nov. 14 and has a 0.80 GAA in his past five matchups in the series.

"Especially tonight on the road in a fun building, I thought we had probably our most complete effort of the (winning streak)," Schneider told the team's official website. "I think that's encouraging.

"It will be good to rest up and have a big one on Tuesday. It's going to be an important game for us. We're feeling good right now, but we can't let that get in the way of how we need to play (at Pittsburgh)."

Lately, that hasn't been very well, with the Penguins winning four in a row and 10 of 12 at home in the series.

Pittsburgh (23-17-7) might also like to keep playing through this week, having won two in a row and three of four in what's been a largely disappointing season that led to the firing of coach Mike Johnston in December.

After losing their first four games under Mike Sullivan, though, the Penguins have gone 8-3-4. They've finally woken up offensively, averaging 3.20 goals in that stretch.

Pittsburgh beat Vancouver 5-4 on Saturday to give it a 5-0-2 mark in its last seven at home. Evgeni Malkin recorded his 10th career hat trick to give him 17 points in 12 games while Sidney Crosby extended his season-high point streak to six with an empty net goal, his 21st point in 16 contests.

Still, concerns lingers after the Penguins had to rally from an early 2-0 deficit and trailed 3-1 in the third period. Pittsburgh has fallen behind 2-0 in its last two wins and has faced two-goal deficits in eight of 11 games, earning points in six.

The Penguins have given up at least four goals three times in their last five.

''I don't know what's going on," Malkin said. "We can't score five goals every game. We need to change and play better in the first period.''

Pittsburgh's minus-0.30 goal differential in the opening period is among the worst marks in the league. Its plus-0.36 mark in the second is second best.