Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic discusses his return to Pittsburgh Penguins practice for the first time since his injury in late October. After the first couple of periods, it seemed like the Pittsburgh Penguins might be able to punch out an ugly victory over the New Jersey Devils. The Penguins were far from the best team on the ice against the Devils but kept the score tight for a majority of the contest entering both intermissions with a tie score. Four unanswered goals, including three in the final frame however, forced a bitter pill to swallow and snapped a five-game winning streak. The Penguins lost by a score of 5-2 despite having all of the momentum heading into the contest. Following the game, everyone in the Penguins locker room agreed that they just weren’t good enough. “They were the better team tonight,” Crosby said. “You don’t like putting yourself in that position. They were better.” Both Penguins’ goals were recorded by Bryan Rust, who is having a bounce back season, but even he noted things weren’t good enough to win. “I don’t think we were good enough,” Rust said. “I don’t know if we had the energy we would have liked. A few too many turnovers.” The Devils first goal of the night came short handed and all but took the wind out of the Penguins sails for the rest of the game. It was early, but Rust said giving up that tally certainly didn’t help. Head coach Mike Sullivan followed [https://www.nhl.com/penguins/video/post-game-sullivan-11-16-23-6341279252112] in the same footsteps in stating the Penguins just didn’t have it. “I don’t know that there was anything specific, we just weren’t very good,” Sullivan said. “I’m not going to rationalize another answer, we just weren’t good enough.” The Penguins have a few more important contests coming up on the ledger, forcing the team to need a short memory before the weekend. After a rough start to the season, the Penguins clawed their way back into the hunt, and are hoping they can stick around in the race for the long haul. Make sure you bookmark Inside the Penguins [http://insidethepenguins.com/]for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns and so much more. Penguins Winning Streak Snapped After Lousy Performance [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/latest-news/pittsburgh-penguins-winning-streak-snapped-lousy-performance] Injured Penguins Sent to AHL for Conditioning Stint [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/latest-news/injured-pittsburgh-penguins-ahl-conditioning-stint] Penguins Have Big Advantage Over Devils [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/latest-news/pittsburgh-penguins-big-advantage-over-new-jersey-devils] Penguins Well Equipped With Goalie Depth [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/players/pittsburgh-penguins-equipped-goalie-depth] Penguins Finding Identity in Bottom of Lineup [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/podcasts/pittsburgh-penguins-finding-identity-bottom-lineup] * undefined * undefined
