Game Recap: PIT 5, NJD 2, April 9, 2026

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Game Recap

PIT5

FinalThu, Apr 9, 2026Every game that night

NJD2

PIT beat NJD 5-2, and the chances backed it up: 3.21 expected goals to 2.02. PIT outshot NJD 30 to 21. E. Chinakhov led the way with 3 points (1 G, 2 A). R. Rakell had 8 shots on goal against our projection of 2.3. S. Skinner stopped 19 of 21.

Team Stats

PITNJD

30Shots on goal21

3.21Expected goals2.02

61Shot attempts42

285v5 shots on goal21

0/1Power play0/1

7Hits12

8Blocked shots18

2Penalty minutes2

15Giveaways19

4Takeaways5

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

Expected Goals Over the Game

PIT 3.21 xGNJD 2.02 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

PIT29 on goal, 4 scored

NJD21 on goal, 2 scored

GoalSavedMissedBlockedBigger: a better chance

Box Score

PIT Skaters

Player	Pos	G	A	P	SOG	HIT	BLK	+/-	PIM	TOI	PP TOI
E. Chinakhov	RW	1	2	3	2	0	0	+2	0	14:23	0:48
E. Malkin	C	1	1	2	2	0	0	+3	0	17:13	1:12
S. Crosby	C	0	2	2	4	0	1	+2	0	14:43	1:10
B. Rust	RW	1	0	1	2	1	0	+1	0	16:21	1:12
T. Novak	C	1	0	1	3	0	0	+1	0	16:21	0:49
N. Acciari	C	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	14:51	0:00
R. Rakell	RW	0	0	0	8	0	1	+1	0	18:06	1:11
A. Mantha	RW	0	0	0	1	0	0	-1	2	16:02	0:48
B. Kindel	C	0	0	0	1	0	0	+1	0	14:47	0:49
J. Brazeau	RW	0	0	0	0	0	0	-1	0	14:19	0:00
E. Soderblom	LW	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	11:32	0:00
A. Hayes	RW	0	0	0	1	3	1	0	0	11:13	0:00
E. Karlsson	D	1	1	2	2	0	0	0	0	22:30	1:11
P. Wotherspoon	D	0	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	21:40	0:00
K. Letang	D	0	1	1	0	0	1	+1	0	20:15	0:50
R. Shea	D	0	1	1	2	0	0	+2	0	18:00	0:00
S. Girard	D	0	0	0	0	0	1	+1	0	18:50	0:00
C. Clifton	D	0	0	0	1	0	1	+2	0	16:54	0:00

Goalie	SA	SV	GA	SV%	TOI
S. Skinner	21	19	2	.905	60:00	Win
A. Silovs	0	0	0	–	0:00

NJD Skaters

Player	Pos	G	A	P	SOG	HIT	BLK	+/-	PIM	TOI	PP TOI
J. Hughes	C	1	0	1	5	0	3	-1	0	20:49	1:02
C. Brown	RW	0	1	1	2	0	1	-1	0	18:09	0:58
P. Cotter	LW	1	0	1	1	1	0	+1	0	10:49	0:10
B. Halonen	LW	0	1	1	0	3	0	+1	0	8:54	0:01
N. Hischier	C	0	0	0	0	0	0	-3	0	18:06	1:00
J. Bratt	LW	0	0	0	0	0	0	-1	0	17:41	1:00
D. Mercer	C	0	0	0	0	0	0	-2	0	17:21	0:49
T. Meier	RW	0	0	0	3	1	1	-3	0	17:00	0:52
C. Glass	C	0	0	0	0	0	1	-1	0	14:33	0:57
N. Bjugstad	C	0	0	0	0	0	1	-1	0	14:06	0:00
L. Hameenaho	RW	0	0	0	3	0	0	-1	0	13:59	0:46
M. McLaughlin	C	0	0	0	0	1	1	+1	0	9:41	0:14
D. Hamilton	D	0	1	1	3	0	0	+1	0	20:04	1:00
J. Siegenthaler	D	0	1	1	1	0	1	+1	0	16:04	0:00
S. Nemec	D	0	0	0	1	1	4	-2	2	23:01	0:59
B. Dillon	D	0	0	0	0	2	0	-1	0	21:24	0:00
J. Kovacevic	D	0	0	0	1	3	3	-2	0	19:24	0:12
D. Cholowski	D	0	0	0	1	0	2	-2	0	17:40	0:00

Goalie	SA	SV	GA	SV%	TOI
J. Allen	29	25	4	.862	59:15	Loss
J. Markstrom	0	0	0	–	0:00

Lines at 5-on-5

PIT

Line 1E. Malkin15:43T. Novak15:32R. Rakell16:12

Line 2A. Mantha15:14J. Brazeau14:19B. Kindel12:48

Line 3B. Rust13:31E. Chinakhov13:08S. Crosby13:11

Line 4N. Acciari13:15E. Soderblom11:32A. Hayes11:13

Pair 1E. Karlsson19:37P. Wotherspoon19:57

Pair 2K. Letang19:09S. Girard18:33

Pair 3R. Shea17:14C. Clifton16:07

NJD

Line 1J. Hughes18:14C. Brown15:58J. Bratt15:14

Line 2N. Hischier15:44D. Mercer15:54T. Meier15:23

Line 3N. Bjugstad14:06L. Hameenaho13:13C. Glass13:04

Line 4P. Cotter10:32M. McLaughlin9:27B. Halonen8:46

Pair 1B. Dillon19:56S. Nemec21:56

Pair 2D. Cholowski17:40J. Kovacevic17:43

Pair 3D. Hamilton17:52J. Siegenthaler15:33

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 20250 SOG

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

How We Did

	We projected	It finished
Score	PIT 3.2, NJD 3.2	PIT 5, NJD 2
Total goals	6.5	7
Shots on goal	PIT 26.7, NJD 29.5	PIT 30, NJD 21
Win chance	NJD 51%	PIT won

Players

Player	SOG projected	SOG	Points projected	Points	Goal chance	Goals
NJD J. Hughes	3.9	5	1.31	1	39%	1
NJD T. Meier	3.3	3	0.70	0	32%	0
NJD N. Hischier	2.5	0	0.88	0	32%	0
NJD D. Hamilton	2.4	3	0.54	1	15%	0
PIT R. Rakell	2.3	8	0.74	0	28%	0
PIT B. Rust	2.3	2	0.80	1	29%	1
PIT E. Malkin	2.3	2	0.83	2	25%	1
PIT E. Karlsson	2.2	2	0.71	2	14%	1
PIT E. Chinakhov	2.2	2	0.56	3	23%	1
NJD J. Bratt	2.1	0	0.95	0	26%	0
PIT S. Crosby	2.1	4	0.94	2	30%	0
NJD D. Mercer	1.9	0	0.54	0	24%	0
NJD C. Brown	1.9	2	0.67	1	22%	0
PIT A. Mantha	1.7	1	0.62	0	24%	0
PIT T. Novak	1.6	3	0.52	1	20%	1
PIT B. Kindel	1.5	1	0.36	0	16%	0
NJD C. Glass	1.4	0	0.36	0	16%	0
PIT N. Acciari	1.3	0	0.27	1	13%	0
PIT K. Letang	1.3	0	0.39	1	8%	0
NJD S. Nemec	1.3	1	0.34	0	10%	0
PIT A. Hayes	1.3	1	0.23	0	13%	0
NJD L. Hameenaho	1.3	3	0.28	0	10%	0
NJD N. Bjugstad	1.2	0	0.24	0	13%	0
PIT E. Soderblom	1.2	0	0.27	0	13%	0
PIT J. Brazeau	1.1	0	0.32	0	14%	0
NJD J. Kovacevic	1.0	1	0.23	0	4%	0
PIT S. Girard	0.9	0	0.30	0	5%	0
PIT P. Wotherspoon	0.8	1	0.28	1	3%	0
PIT C. Clifton	0.8	1	0.20	0	4%	0
NJD J. Siegenthaler	0.8	1	0.20	1	3%	0
NJD M. McLaughlin	0.8	0	0.21	0	12%	0
PIT R. Shea	0.8	2	0.29	1	6%	0
NJD D. Cholowski	0.8	1	0.19	0	4%	0
NJD P. Cotter	0.6	1	0.18	1	10%	1
NJD B. Dillon	0.6	0	0.20	0	4%	0
NJD B. Halonen	0.6	0	0.12	1	8%	0

Shots on goal: 21 of 36 players within one of their projection; they took 0.1 fewer 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.