Pens capture 11th straight

Associated Press

NEWARK, N.J.

Sidney Crosby felt more comfortable in the second game of his comeback as the Pittsburgh Penguins sent the New Jersey Devils reeling.

Matt Cooke scored two goals, Evgeni Malkin added his 40th of the season and Crosby had three assists to lead the Penguins to their 11th straight win, 5-2 over the Devils on Saturday.

With the surge, the Penguins have 93 points — two behind the Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers. Their winning streak is the longest in the NHL this season

Crosby came through with a strong effort in the second game of his comeback from recurring concussion-like symptoms.

“Having played one game, so much of it is reacting,” Crosby said. “When you first come back, you are probably thinking a lot more than you should. The more you react and let the game come to you, the better.”

Crosby has five assists since returning, and had a couple of good chances against the Devils to score the first goal of the comeback with six shots on goal.

Chris Kunitz, James Neal and Pascal Dupuis also scored for Pittsburgh. Marc-Andre Fleury made 12 saves for his 10th straight victory and 39th of the season.

It has been a smooth transition with Crosby stepping back into the lineup.

“We’re a team and you’re happy to see your team mates do well,” Crosby said. “We’ve played good hockey. When I wasn’t in for the previous nine games I was just as happy to see guys do well. There is a good feeling when you are rewarded for your efforts and guys have stuck to that.”

A good team becomes a very dangerous squad with Crosby back.

“It’s a powerful feeling,” said Cooke who has four goals in the last two games. “It’s invigorating to see the depth of our team and our organization. Some guys who played well for us all year now have to sit out. That’s unfortunate, but that’s the strength of our group.”

The Penguins ended a three-game losing streak to the Devils, winning for the first time in their last five visits to New Jersey.

“I feel they got fortunate a couple of games in here,” Cooke said. “We’d have pressure on them early and not get a goal. They’d get a turnover and go down and score. It wasn’t that different today. We were all over them, and then they got a goal.”

This time Pittsburgh never let up.

Andy Greene and Petr Sykora scored for the Devils, winners of five of six coming in. The Devils wore their retro jerseys, going back to their original New Jersey colors of red, white and green.

The throwback shirts didn’t help as the Penguins attacked early and often, jumping out to a 14-2 shot advantage.

“We played a real fast game today,” Crosby said. “Everyone was creating chances.”