Devils at Penguins
The New Jersey Devils vie for their first five-game winning streak in nearly three years when they visit the Metropolitan Division-rival Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday. Former Penguin Lee Stempniak has provided consistent offense for the Devils, scoring four goals and setting up another in the last three contests en route to being named the NHL's Second Star of the Week on Monday.
Stempniak tallied twice versus another former team to record his first two-goal performance since April 4 with a 3-1 triumph against Winnipeg on Saturday. "It was a huge game, trying to separate ourselves from teams right around us clustered for a playoff spot," said the 32-year-old Stempniak, whose 14 goals are one shy of his career-best mark last season. Like New Jersey, Pittsburgh is starting to string wins together as it has claimed three of four overall and is 5-0-2 in its last seven at home. All-Star Evgeni Malkin, who has 17 points (six goals, 11 assists) in his last 12 games, secured his 10th career hat trick on Saturday as the Penguins rallied for a 5-4 victory versus Vancouver.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG-Plus (New Jersey), ROOT (Pittsburgh)
ABOUT THE DEVILS (25-19-5): All-Star Cory Schneider turned aside 22 shots versus the Jets and made 21 saves in New Jersey's 4-0 victory over Pittsburgh on Nov. 14. The 29-year-old Schneider has been downright stingy on the road, posting a 13-6-2 mark with a slim 1.84 goals-against average. Mike Cammalleri, who scored a goal and set up two others in the first meeting with Pittsburgh, had two assists against Winnipeg to increase his point total to five in the last four games.
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (23-17-7): Captain Sidney Crosby sealed the win against the Canucks with an empty-net goal to extend his season-high point streak to six games (four goals, five assists). "There's lots of motivation for this one because we want to finish out strong before the NHL All-Star break," the two-time Hart Trophy winner told the Penguins website. "... The biggest thing this time of year is you can't waste any games and we're very motivated to play the Devils, especially after our last game against them." Oft-injured forward Beau Bennett aggravated his shoulder injury versus Vancouver and has been ruled out of the contest.
OVERTIME
1. New Jersey GM Ray Shero and assistant GM Tom Fitzgerald played integral roles on Pittsburgh's 2009 Stanley Cup-winning team. Shero was the Penguins' GM while Fitzgerald served as an assistant coach.
2. Pittsburgh has scored at least once on the power play in 12 of its last 16 contests.
3. Devils RW Bobby Farnham returns to the Steel City for the first time since being claimed off waivers on Oct. 26.