NEWARK, N.J. _ As the new year approaches, it seems many are ready to turn the page to 2017.
Justin Schultz, though, would probably like to keep the calendar on 2016 _ and, specifically, the month of December _ for as long as he can.
The Penguins beat the Devils, 5-2, Tuesday night in their first game back after a three-day holiday break. Schultz scored the game-winner late in the second period to continue his red-hot offensive month. He has 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) in December.
He added to that total Tuesday night when he joined Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in a 4-on-4 rush with time winding down in the second period. Malkin fed the puck to Schultz, who picked his spot on Devils goalie Cory Schneider and ripped it past him to give the Penguins a 3-2 lead heading into the intermission, a lead they would extend in the third.
Schultz now has seven goals and 15 assists on the season, both already surpassing his totals from last season.
His goal came at a time, too, when the Penguins looked like they were in for a tight third period after a somewhat sluggish start to the game.
Penguins coach Mike Sullivan warned before the game that, after three days off the ice, it might take a few minutes for both teams to get readjusted. Unfortunately for the Penguins, the Devils appeared to do so a bit quicker.
Just over a minute into the game, Devils winger Taylor Hall danced past Penguins defenseman Chad Ruhwedel and fed a pass to a wide-open P.A. Parenteau that put New Jersey up 1-0 at 1:18 of the first.
The Penguins eventually responded, though, when Evgeni Malkin connected on the power play at 6:43 of the first period to even the score. Malkin took a cross-ice feed from Sidney Crosby and buried a low shot from the bottom of the right circle before Devils' goalie Cory Schneider could get across his crease.
The goal was Malkin's 15th of the season and gave him 800 points for his career, a feat only Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and Crosby have also achieved with the Penguins.
The Devils answered back quickly after Malkin's goal, though. On the power play Adam Henrique corralled a loose puck off a blocked shot and, with Marc-Andre Fleury out of position, had a wide open net to shoot at. He didn't miss and his goal gave the Devils a 2-1 lead at 8:23 of the first.
Fleury finished with 21 saves on the night, winning his second consecutive game against the Devils.
Neither team generated much offense for most of the second period, with the Devils perfectly content to grind away the clock. The Penguins needed someone to make a play, and Conor Sheary and Crosby obliged.
Midway through the period, Sheary danced his way past Henrique down the left wing. His shot was stopped by Schneider, but Crosby was in position in the slot to bury the rebound and tie the score at 2, at 10:56 of the second period.
The teams seemed ready to head to the second intermission tied, until Schultz's game-winner with 5.4 seconds left in the period.
Carl Hagelin scored on a breakaway _ off a picture-perfect feed from Chad Ruhwedel _ at 3:13 of the third period to give the Penguins an insurance goal, and Bryan Rust added an empty-netter for the final margin.
The Penguins return to action Wednesday against the Hurricanes back at PPG Paints Arena.
