New Jersey Devils at Pittsburgh Penguins Gamethread

With the Islanders falling back to Earth and the Rangers and Flyers still hovering near .500, the early race in the Atlantic is between the Pittsburgh Penguins and New Jersey Devils.

The teams have split their season series so far, with Pittsburgh winning a 5-1 contest a week ago before dropping yesterday's game 3-1 in New Jersey.

Following yesterday's contest, New Jersey has taken a one-point lead over the Penguins for first place in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference. A regulation win at home will put the Penguins (8-4-0, 16 points) back on top of the Devils, who own a game in hand on Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh had won five straight prior to Saturday's loss, while the Devils are now working on their own four-game winning streak. Their last loss came to the Penguins last Saturday, still their only regulation loss this season (7-1-3, 17 points).

Sidney Crosby leads the Penguins with 12 assists and 17 points and trails only Patrick Kane (18 points) and Thomas Vanek (23 points) in the NHL scoring race. Veteran Patrick Elias leads the Devils with 13 points, while David Clarkson paces the team with 7 goals.

Tomas Vokoun (3-1-0, 2.09/.927) is slated to face Johan Hedburg (1-0-1, 0.48/.980) in the evening contest, in what could be a match-up of the two best backup goaltenders in the NHL.

Penguins rookie defenseman Joe Morrow has been recalled from the AHL after Kris Letang was placed on injured reserve.