(My Sportsbook) - The red-hot
New Jersey Devils will shoot for an eighth consecutive victory when they host the rival Pittsburgh Penguins in tonight's Atlantic Division battle at Prudential Center.
The Devils earned their seventh win in a row Thursday evening, as they notched an overtime victory in Boston. New Jersey is in the midst of its longest winning streak since reeling off nine straight from November 17 to December 7 of last season.
Jersey is currently first in the Atlantic Division with 65 points and holds a three-point edge over the New York Rangers.
Jamie Langenbrunner's second goal of the game, coming 1:11 into overtime, lifted New Jersey over the Eastern Conference-leading Bruins, 4-3.
On the winner, Colin White's blast from the left point hit Tim Thomas and caromed into two players in front of the crease. The puck found its way to Langenbrunner, who spun to face the cage and slipped the puck under a fallen Thomas.
Zach Parise and Patrik Elias also scored for the Devils, who blew a two-goal lead in the third period and had to rally late to earn the win at TD Banknorth Garden. Scott Clemmensen made 24 stops for the win.
Parise and Elias each extended point scoring streaks to five games with the former notching four goals and three assists during his run and Elias recording three goals and three helpers.
Tonight marks the first of two straight at home for the Devils, who are 14-8-1 as the host this year. Jersey will also host Washington on Tuesday night.
The Penguins, meanwhile, have won three of their last four games and are coming off a stunning victory in their first game following the All-Star break.
Pittsburgh hosted the rival New York Rangers this past Wednesday night and the game was extremely close after two periods only to turn into a laugher in the final 20 minutes. The score was tied at 1-1 until the Penguins scored five times in the third period en route to a 6-2 decision over the Blueshirts.
Petr Sykora and Kris Letang each tallied twice to help Pittsburgh skate past the Rangers at Mellon Arena.
Despite missing the All-Star game with a left knee injury, Sidney Crosby picked up a goal and three assists and Jordan Staal also lit the lamp for the Penguins.
Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 32 shots for his 16th win of the season.
Tonight's test marks the start of a three-game road trip for the Pens, who are 12-10-2 as the visitor this season and have dropped four of their last five away from the Steel City.
The Pens and Devils have split four meetings this season and the road club has won 12 of the last 16 encounters between the clubs. Pittsburgh has taken two of three and four of the last six meetings overall, and has won two of three and six of its last eight stops in the Garden State.