Penguins at Devils
One Metropolitan Division team will end its three-game slide Monday, when the Eastern Conference-leading Pittsburgh Penguins visit the New Jersey Devils. Pittsburgh, which owns a two-point lead over the New York Islanders in the division, fell to 0-2-1 in its last three with a 3-0 home loss to Washington on Saturday. The Penguins extended their point streak to eight games (5-0-3) despite falling to Florida in a shootout last Monday but went on to lose in regulation to Tampa Bay before being blanked by the Capitals.
New Jersey also is 0-2-1 in its last three, including a 3-1 setback at the New York Rangers on Saturday in the co-coaching debuts of Scott Stevens and Adam Oates. The duo was aided behind the bench by general manager Lou Lamoriello, who fired Peter DeBoer on Friday. The Devils are 1-5-3 since posting a 2-1 triumph at Carolina on Dec. 8, scoring more than two goals only once in that span and getting shut out twice.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, ROOT (Pittsburgh), MSG Plus (New Jersey)
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (22-8-5): Since falling behind 3-1 against New Jersey early in the second period on Oct. 28, Pittsburgh has dominated the season series. The Penguins scored the next seven goals in that contest to register an 8-3 victory and received a 29-save performance from Marc-Andre Fleury on Dec. 2 for a 1-0 triumph. The club will be without a slew of players for Monday's contest - including Patrick Hornqvist, who is expected to miss several weeks with a lower-body injury, as well as Steve Downie and backup goaltender Thomas Greiss, who became the latest members of the team to fall victim to the mumps epidemic running rampant through the NHL.
ABOUT THE DEVILS (12-18-7): New Jersey also has been hit hard by the mumps, with Patrik Elias and Michael Ryder joining the growing list of infected players on Saturday. Travis Zajac and defenseman Adam Larsson also came down with the virus but have since returned after missing eight and 10 games, respectively. The change behind the bench from DeBoer to the Stevens-Oates combination is the Devils' 13th in the last 15 seasons, the highest total in the league over that span.
OVERTIME
1. In addition to Downie and Greiss, Pittsburgh has seen captain Sidney Crosby, RW Beau Bennett and D Olli Maatta contract the mumps.
2. Lamoriello has put himself in New Jersey's coaching position for the third time during his tenure as the team's GM.
3. The Penguins assigned D Brian Dumoulin to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Sunday and recalled C Dominik Uher from the American Hockey League club.