Devils 3, Penguins 1
PITTSBURGH -- It was a big weekend for the New Jersey Devils and a lost one for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
David Clarkson scored two goals as the Devils beat the Penguins for the second straight day, 3-1, on Sunday night at the Consol Energy Center.
New Jersey also downed Pittsburgh by a 3-1 score on Saturday afternoon at the Prudential Center in Newark.
The back-to-back wins enabled New Jersey to supplant Pittsburgh atop the Atlantic Division standings. Winners of five straight, the Devils are 8-1-3 and have 19 points, three more than the Penguins (8-5-0).
New Jersey goaltender Johan Hedberg shut out the New York Islanders in his previous start one week earlier and nearly had a second in a row as he stopped 23 of 24 shots.
Ilya Kovaluchuk also scored for the Devils. James Neal had the Penguins' lone goal.
It was the first time Hedberg won as a visiting goalie in Pittsburgh in six starts. He broke into the NHL with the Penguins in 2000 and spent three seasons with them.
Clarkson opened the scoring when he beat Pittsburgh goaltender Tomas Vokoun on a two-man rush with Adam Henrique at 13:05 of the first period.
New Jersey scored twice in a two-minute span in the second period to push its lead to 3-0. Kovalchuk scored his fourth goal of the season at 11:27 and Clarkson scored his ninth on a power play at 13:20.
The Penguins finally broke through against Hedberg as Neal scored on the power play 15 seconds in the third period. It was Neal's eighth goal.
The Penguins had gone 88:52 without scoring against the Devils since Brandon Sutter had a goal 1:23 into Saturday's game as Martin Brodeur shut them out over the final 58:37.
Pittsburgh was not able to cut their deficit lower than two goals as Hedberg stonewalled them the rest of the way.
Vokoun made 20 saves.
NOTES: Pittsburgh defenseman Robert Bortuzzo and New Jersey center Ryan Carter dropped the gloves immediately after the opening faceoff and were assessed five-minute majors for fighting. ... The Penguins recalled defenseman Joe Morrow from their Wilkes-Barre/Scranton farm club in the American Hockey League to provide depth on the blue line, but he was a healthy scratch along with centers Eric Tangradi and Joe Vitale. Morrow had two goals and eight assists in 39 games with the Baby Pens ... Pittsburgh defenseman Matt Niskanen participated in the morning skate Sunday, the first time he had practiced since suffering a lower body injury Jan. 27 in a game at Ottawa. The Penguins have no timetable for Niskanen's return, sticking to the original prognosis that he would miss 2-4 weeks. ... Devils center Dainius Zubrus missed his third straight game with an upper body injury while defensemen Henrik Tallinder and Peter Harrold were healthy scratches.
