PITTSBURGH (AP) Evgeni Malkin made the proclamation more than two months ago Adidas Michael Ferland Jersey , minutes after the Pittsburgh Penguins put together three borderline spectacular periods against San Jose on Jan. 30 to pick up their ninth win in 12 games.”It’s like we’re back to playoffs for sure,” Malkin said.It was vintage Malkin, who for over a decade has played the blunt dressing room yin to Sidney Crosby’s ever polite yang.While predicting a playoff spot for the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions isn’t exactly risky, Malkin’s promise came as the Penguins were coming out of a three-month funk in which they flip-flopped between brilliant and blah.Reminded of his guarantee on Tuesday – with a 12th straight postseason berth secured – Malkin just smiled. Yeah, maybe he was sending a message to the rest of the guys in the room that day that the malaise needed to go.”Like we talk a lot about this year, like everyone’s `Wait, like what’s going on?”’ Malkin said. ”We lost couple good players but we’re still great.”They just didn’t always play like it during the first half of the season. While doing his best to avoid using the word ”hangover,” Crosby admitted the Penguins may have suffered from a bit of selective amnesia last fall when they opened the season trying to become the first franchise in 35 years to win three straight titles.”When you play a couple seasons of important games like that, you come back and you might not have that urgency or you only remember May and June when everything is great and your team is firing on all cylinders but you don’t necessarily remember all the little things that happen,” Crosby said.The two-time MVP has been around long enough to understand that each year has its own set of unique challenges. The group that basically ran in place from October through December sort of forgot how to deal with it.”You have to go through that stuff over the course of the year and sometimes it’s not as fresh in your mind as winning is,” he said. ”So I think it took us awhile to go through that.”Things like trying to find a new identity after the departures of Chris Kunitz, Marc-Andre Fleury , Nick Bonino, Trevor Daley and Matt Cullen, all vital pieces of Pittsburgh’s 2016 and 2017 titles. Things like defenseman Justin Schultz and forwards Patric Hornqvist and Bryan Rust all missing significant time with injuries Adidas Jordan Schroeder Jersey , reminders that – as coach Mike Sullivan likes to put it – the Penguins play a ”belligerent sport.”Sullivan knew adversity was coming when the season started. And while he didn’t panic he kept reminding his players that nothing is inevitable, not even a playoff berth for a team with the longest active streak in the NHL. There was no fiery speech telling them to get it together because none was required.”There weren’t really any words said,” Rust said. ”Everybody knew. It’s one of those things. You take a look at the standings. You take a look at how we lost a few of those games early in the year and you just, everybody kind of looked in the mirror a little bit and everybody picked up their own game.”Though the Penguins insist there was no one moment in which they snapped to, Hornqvist pointed to a 4-0 road win against the New York Islanders on Jan. 5 as game when the light started to come on.The visit to Brooklyn came just 24 hours after a humbling 4-0 home loss to Carolina. Weather issues forced the team to scramble just to get to the arena. They left with two points and a little bit of swagger.”Since then I think we’ve been playing good hockey and been improving every game and that’s the key to the season,” Hornqvist said.Having Malkin and Crosby doing Malkin and Crosby things certainly helps.Malkin is in the running for his second Hart Trophy as league MVP, his 95 points the most on the team, most of them coming during Pittsburgh’s post-New Year’s Day surge, one in which the Penguins became just the fourth defending champion since 1944 to reach the postseason after being on the outside looking in at the season’s midway point.When Malkin cooled, Crosby put together a five-game goal scoring streak, including a remarkable double-tap score against Montreal’s Carey Price and an overtime winner against New Jersey last Thursday in which he smacked his own rebound out of midair and by Devils goaltender Keith Kinkaid in overtime.A win over the Canadiens last Saturday night turned Malkin’s January guarantee into a reality. Though a loss to Washington on Sunday allowed the Capitals to wrap up a third consecutive Metropolitan Division title, the Penguins aren’t particularly concerned. All three Cup parades during the Malkin-Crosby era have followed regular seasons in which the Penguins finished second in their division.All that matters to Malkin is that Pittsburgh is in the conversation. Just as the Penguins have always been since he arrived in 2007.”I will always believe my team,” Malkin said. ”I always believe this group. I see these guys every day and we’re still hungry.”— NEWARK, N.J. (AP) Getting to the playoffs many times involves getting big plays from guys on the third and fourth lines in addition to having your stars step up.The Devils got both in moving a little closer to their first playoff berth since the 2011-12 season.Stefan Noesen scored on a rebound with 1:33 to play and the Devils got two goals in the final nine minutes to post a 4-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night.”I was jumping on the bench,” said Devils catalyst Taylor Hall Adidas Chris Kunitz Jersey , who had three assists. ”Sometimes you need to make a play, need to have a performance and guy come through and really get that one for us. You don’t want to get to overtime and split the odds.”Noesen, whose 12 goals and 25 points are career highs, was in the right spot at the right time in helping the Devils win their third straight and sixth of eight.Andy Greene’s shot from the left boards was stopped by Scott Darling, but the rebound came to Noesen who fired it into the net.”Puck goes out to Greeny and comes right on my stick and those are nice, especially with a minute and a half left,” Noesen said. ”That’s a big win, as of now it’s the biggest win of the year. Every win now from this point forward will be the biggest.”The Devils (88 points) are three points ahead of idle Florida in the race for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Panthers have two games in hand.”It wasn’t our greatest game, execution wise, defensive wise, but this time of the year you have to try and find a way to do whatever it takes,” said Kyle Palmieri, who had two goals and an assist.Pavel Zacha also scored and Keith Kinkaid, who has supplanted Cory Schneider as the No. 1 goaltender, made 31 saves.Phil Di Giuseppe Adidas Brandon Manning Jersey , Warren Foegele and Noah Hanifin also scored as the Hurricanes had a three-game winning streak snapped despite taking a 3-2 lead early in the third period. Scott Darling was outstanding making 41 saves, but Carolina’s slim playoff hopes faded as it fell nine points behind New Jersey.”No matter what, you want to win,” Di Giuseppe said. ”That’s our focus. We are just trying to win for each other. Obviously disappointing tonight, but there are a few more games.”Palmieri tied the game twice with power-play goals, with both being setup by great passes by Hall.The second tied the game 3-all with 8:55 left in regulation as a penalty against Valentin Zykov about to expire. Hall sent a pass between the circles and Palmieri deflected it with an open blade into the top of the net.Hanifin had given the Hurricanes at 3-2 lead 3:39 into the period with a shot from the left circle into a relatively open net after Jeff Skinner won the puck behind the net.Kinkaid was the difference in the second period when he stopped breakaways by Skinner and Brock McGinn with the Hurricanes leading 2-1.”Keith stood on his head and gave us a chance tonight and special teams came through when it mattered,” Palmieri said.The save on Skinner in the opening minute of the period was spectacular. The 23-goal scorer made a move to his forehand to get Kinkaid out of position but the goalie reached back at the last second and just the butt of his stick kept the puck out of the net.Hall then made a great cross-ice pass to find Palmieri low in the right circle for a quick power-play shot that beat Darling to tie the game 2-all with 5:53 left in the period.New Jersey dominated the opening 10 minutes and took the early lead when Zacha put the rebound of a Palmieri shot into an open net at 5:47.Darling kept the Hurricanes in the game, stopping a short-handed breakaway by Blake Coleman at 12:01.Di Giuseppe tied the game a couple of minutes late with a shot from the left circle after Skinner won a battle along the boards. Elias Lindholm found Di Giuseppe.Foegele, who scored in his NHL debut on Monday, got his second in two games with a wraparound goal at with 3:07 left in the period.NOTES: Hurricanes hope to get D Justin Falk back before the season ends. He has missed the last three games with an upper-body injury. … Devils F Miles Wood returned to the lineup after missing three games with a similar injury. … Hall now has 52 assists, one shy of his career high with Edmonton in 2013-14. … Palmieri has three goals in the last two games. … Di Giuseppe has three goals in four games after scoring two in his first 40. …Hurricanes F Sebastian Aho snapped a nine-game point-scoring streak (4 goals, 8 assists).UP NEXTHurricanes: At Washington on Friday nightDevils: Host Pittsburgh on Thursday night in third straight home game.—