(My Sportsbook) - The sizzling New Jersey Devils will aim for an eighth consecutive victory when they welcome the Washington Capitals for a battle between division leaders at Prudential Center.

The Capitals have also been streaking lately with four straight wins and have put together that stretch without superstar winger Alex Ovechkin, who could make his return to the ice tonight.

Ovechkin has sat out the last five games with an upper-body strain, but has returned to practice and is questionable for tonight. Despite his absence, Ovechkin is still tied for the NHL's goal-scoring lead as he and Anze Kopitar of Los Angeles each have 14 tallies on the year.

As for the Devils, they picked up their seventh straight win Thursday night in Pittsburgh, posting a 4-1 win over the Penguins.

With 26 points, New Jersey holds a two-point edge over Pittsburgh for first place in the Atlantic Division and the Devils are two behind Washington for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. The Capitals have already opened a nine-point lead over Tampa Bay and Atlanta in the Southeast Division.

New Jersey also improved to 9-0-0 on the road this year with the win over the Pens. A victory Monday night in Philadelphia would tie the Devils with the 2006-07 Buffalo Sabres for the most wins away from home to start a season in NHL history. The Devils are just 4-4-0 as the host this year, but have won their last three games at the Rock.

Nicklas Bergfors recorded a goal and two assists to lead the Devils to the 4-1 win over Pittsburgh at Mellon Arena.

Andy Greene, Zach Parise and David Clarkson also scored for the Devils, while Martin Brodeur made 25 stops for his 11th win this season.

"We're playing smart, and we're playing our system well," Parise said. "When you have the ability to have younger guys step in and play and fill in the roles, it makes the game pretty simple for us."

Greene notched the game-winner, and according to Elias Sports Bureau became the first player in Devils history to either score or assist on the winning goal for his team in five consecutive games. Daniel Alfredsson was the last player in the NHL to pull off the feat when he did it with Ottawa during the 2006-07 campaign.

Washington had a home test Friday against Minnesota and notched a 3-1 decision over the Wild at Verizon Center. Brian Pothier's third-period tally proved to be the game-winner for the Caps.

Mike Green and Brooks Laich also scored for the Capitals, while Semyon Varlamov made 29 saves to improve his record this season to 7-1-0. Tomas Fleischmann added an assist to push his point streak to seven games.

The victory came at a cost, however, as right winger Mike Knuble suffered a broken finger in the first period and will be sidelined 3-to-4 weeks. Knuble, who will undergo surgery to repair the break, has five goals and 10 assists in 19 games this season.

Tonight marks the first of two straight on the road for Washington, which will close out the month of November with six of its eight tests away from D.C. The Caps are 5-2-1 as the guest this year and have won four of their last five road tilts.

The Devils have already beaten Washington twice this season, winning a game at home and on the road. New Jersey has taken four of six and seven of 11 overall in the series and the Caps have dropped two of three and 10 of their last 13 tests in the Garden State. The clubs will complete the four-game season series when they meet December 26 in D.C.