Game Recap: NJD 1, PIT 4, February 26, 2026

Go ad-free AND support the site for the 26-27 season for just $18. Sign up now!

Game Recap

NJD1

FinalThu, Feb 26, 2026Every game that night

PIT4

PIT beat NJD 4-1, and the chances backed it up: 4.64 expected goals to 3.77. E. Malkin led the way with 2 points (0 G, 2 A). C. Dewar had 5 shots on goal against our projection of 1.4. A. Silovs stopped 29 of 30.

Scoring

	1st	2nd	3rd	T
NJD	0	1	0	1
PIT	1	0	3	4

1st 18:51PITT. NovakPP0.06 xG
2nd 4:56NJDP. Cotter0.19 xG
3rd 6:30PITC. Clifton0.02 xG
3rd 7:20PITE. Chinakhov0.19 xG
3rd 18:01PITB. LizotteEN0.81 xG

Team Stats

NJDPIT

30Shots on goal37

3.77Expected goals4.64

73Shot attempts59

215v5 shots on goal24

0/5Power play1/3

26Hits15

11Blocked shots20

6Penalty minutes8

18Giveaways15

3Takeaways6

Expected goals: the chance each unblocked shot had of going in, by our model, added up.

Expected Goals Over the Game

NJD 3.77 xGPIT 4.64 xGGoal

Each step up is a shot: how likely it was to go in. A team well above the other had the better chances, whatever the score.

Shot Map

NJD29 on goal, 1 scored

PIT35 on goal, 4 scored

GoalSavedMissedBlockedBigger: a better chance

Box Score

NJD Skaters

Player	Pos	G	A	P	SOG	HIT	BLK	+/-	PIM	TOI	PP TOI
J. Hughes	C	0	1	1	2	0	0	-1	0	25:42	7:49
P. Cotter	LW	1	0	1	2	2	0	+1	0	10:05	0:10
C. Brown	RW	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	22:02	6:08
J. Bratt	LW	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	19:43	5:02
N. Hischier	C	0	0	0	4	1	0	0	0	18:00	7:02
T. Meier	RW	0	0	0	4	3	1	0	0	16:30	4:49
D. Mercer	C	0	0	0	1	1	0	-1	0	15:14	3:46
A. Gritsyuk	RW	0	0	0	2	0	1	-2	2	12:58	2:43
L. Hameenaho	RW	0	0	0	3	0	0	-2	0	12:50	2:20
C. Glass	C	0	0	0	3	0	1	-2	0	11:47	0:34
N. Bjugstad	C	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	11:06	0:13
M. Tsyplakov	RW	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	9:33	0:10
D. Hamilton	D	0	1	1	4	4	1	-1	0	22:10	5:07
S. Nemec	D	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	20:09	4:45
B. Pesce	D	0	0	0	0	0	1	-1	0	19:53	0:07
B. Dillon	D	0	0	0	1	3	1	0	0	17:59	0:10
J. Siegenthaler	D	0	0	0	0	1	3	0	0	17:05	0:00
J. Kovacevic	D	0	0	0	0	6	2	-1	2	13:15	0:10

Goalie	SA	SV	GA	SV%	TOI
J. Markstrom	36	33	3	.917	58:34	Loss
J. Allen	0	0	0	–	0:00

PIT Skaters

Player	Pos	G	A	P	SOG	HIT	BLK	+/-	PIM	TOI	PP TOI
E. Malkin	C	0	2	2	5	0	0	+1	2	17:38	4:25
B. Lizotte	C	1	0	1	2	1	1	+1	0	14:31	0:00
A. Mantha	RW	0	1	1	1	0	2	+1	0	13:54	4:01
T. Novak	C	1	0	1	2	0	1	0	0	13:39	1:38
E. Chinakhov	RW	1	0	1	3	0	0	+1	0	12:42	1:47
B. Rust	RW	0	0	0	1	0	1	+1	0	16:47	3:40
N. Acciari	C	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	16:17	0:00
R. Rakell	RW	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	16:06	3:47
C. Dewar	C	0	0	0	5	2	1	0	0	15:49	0:00
B. Kindel	C	0	0	0	2	0	0	+1	0	13:07	1:00
J. Brazeau	RW	0	0	0	3	1	2	0	0	13:00	1:22
A. Hayes	RW	0	0	0	2	2	1	-1	2	11:47	0:00
R. Shea	D	0	1	1	2	0	0	+1	0	20:19	0:00
K. Letang	D	0	1	1	2	0	2	-1	2	19:02	1:48
C. Clifton	D	1	0	1	2	7	1	+1	2	18:15	0:00
E. Karlsson	D	0	0	0	1	0	2	+1	0	21:41	3:37
S. Girard	D	0	0	0	1	0	4	0	0	17:53	0:00
P. Wotherspoon	D	0	0	0	0	1	1	+2	0	17:49	0:00

Goalie	SA	SV	GA	SV%	TOI
A. Silovs	30	29	1	.967	59:44	Win
S. Skinner	0	0	0	–	0:00

Lines at 5-on-5

NJD

Line 1C. Brown13:32J. Hughes17:32J. Bratt13:25

Line 2L. Hameenaho10:30A. Gritsyuk10:15C. Glass9:29

Line 3T. Meier11:27D. Mercer9:00N. Hischier8:31

Line 4P. Cotter9:43M. Tsyplakov9:09N. Bjugstad9:09

Pair 1D. Hamilton16:19J. Siegenthaler14:42

Pair 2B. Dillon14:24S. Nemec15:05

Pair 3B. Pesce16:00J. Kovacevic11:38

PIT

Line 1E. Malkin12:51E. Chinakhov10:49T. Novak11:55

Line 2N. Acciari10:40C. Dewar9:52B. Lizotte9:25

Line 3R. Rakell11:48B. Rust9:55A. Hayes11:32

Line 4A. Mantha9:53J. Brazeau11:26B. Kindel11:25

Pair 1K. Letang16:06S. Girard15:03

Pair 2R. Shea15:25C. Clifton13:54

Pair 3E. Karlsson14:20P. Wotherspoon13:31

From the NHL's shift charts: the players on the ice together most at 5-on-5, with each one's own 5-on-5 time.

Storylines That Played Out

Old teamCody Glass NJD Faces PIT, his team until Mar 20253 SOG

As Tonight had them before puck drop, with what each player did.

How We Did

	We projected	It finished
Score	NJD 2.7, PIT 3.5	NJD 1, PIT 4
Total goals	6.3	5
Shots on goal	NJD 26.2, PIT 29.5	NJD 30, PIT 37
Win chance	PIT 63%	PIT won

Players

Player	SOG projected	SOG	Points projected	Points	Goal chance	Goals
NJD T. Meier	3.2	4	0.62	0	29%	0
NJD J. Hughes	3.0	2	0.86	1	30%	0
NJD D. Hamilton	2.7	4	0.56	1	15%	0
PIT B. Rust	2.6	1	0.84	0	33%	0
NJD N. Hischier	2.5	4	0.79	0	30%	0
PIT R. Rakell	2.5	3	0.75	0	29%	0
PIT E. Malkin	2.3	5	0.88	2	27%	0
PIT E. Karlsson	2.2	1	0.70	0	13%	0
NJD J. Bratt	2.2	2	0.81	0	24%	0
NJD A. Gritsyuk	2.1	2	0.40	0	16%	0
PIT E. Chinakhov	1.9	3	0.48	1	21%	1
PIT K. Letang	1.9	2	0.52	1	10%	0
PIT B. Kindel	1.9	2	0.50	0	21%	0
NJD C. Brown	1.7	0	0.50	0	18%	0
PIT A. Mantha	1.7	1	0.64	1	24%	0
PIT T. Novak	1.6	2	0.54	1	21%	1
NJD D. Mercer	1.6	1	0.40	0	19%	0
PIT J. Brazeau	1.5	3	0.45	0	20%	0
NJD N. Bjugstad	1.5	0	0.25	0	14%	0
NJD C. Glass	1.4	3	0.32	0	14%	0
PIT C. Dewar	1.4	5	0.37	0	16%	0
NJD L. Hameenaho	1.3	3	0.36	0	15%	0
NJD S. Nemec	1.3	2	0.33	0	9%	0
NJD B. Pesce	1.2	0	0.22	0	5%	0
PIT N. Acciari	1.1	0	0.24	0	12%	0
PIT R. Shea	1.0	2	0.31	1	6%	0
PIT P. Wotherspoon	1.0	0	0.28	0	4%	0
PIT S. Girard	1.0	1	0.29	0	5%	0
PIT B. Lizotte	0.9	2	0.36	1	14%	1
PIT C. Clifton	0.9	2	0.22	1	4%	1
NJD M. Tsyplakov	0.8	0	0.19	0	7%	0
NJD J. Kovacevic	0.8	0	0.17	0	4%	0
NJD J. Siegenthaler	0.8	0	0.14	0	3%	0
NJD P. Cotter	0.7	2	0.17	1	10%	1
NJD B. Dillon	0.6	1	0.20	0	4%	0

Shots on goal: 18 of 35 players within one of their projection; they took 0.2 more than projected on average.

Our projections as they stood at puck drop. One game says little about a model; Model Notes has how it tests over thousands.