Devils begin long road trip against Lightning.
Devils begin long road trip against Lightning.
New Jersey (10-7-2) at Tampa Bay (6-7-6), 5:00 pm EST
The New Jersey Devils put their three-game win streak on the line when they begin a five-game road trip on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Devils will be away from the Prudential Center for 18 days. That will be their longest stretch between home games (in one season) in team history, not counting Olympic breaks.
They did not play any home games for the first 23 days of the 2007-08 season (October 4-26). The previous high was 17 days, from March 6-22, 1999.
Captain Jamie Langenbrunner and Zach Parise each had three assists and New Jersey received goals from five different players in its 5-2 victory over the New York Islanders on Friday.
Goaltender Kevin Weekes made 25 saves en route to his 100th career victory. Weekes had started four of the Devils first five contests in the wake of Martin Brodeurs elbow injury.
Scott Clemmensen, who had started three straight prior to Friday, may get the call again Coach Brent Sutter. The 31-year-old Clemmensen made 23 saves in a 3-1 win over the Florida Panthers on Thursday and has yielded two goals or less in four of his five games.
The Devils ended a streak in which they had given up at least one power-play goal in five games by holding the Islanders scoreless in three power plays, including two in the first period. Ironically, they did it without penalty-killing specialist John Madden in the lineup.
Madden suffered a foot injury on Thursday and his status for this game is unknown.
Tampa Bay, meanwhile, is coming off a 4-1 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday. Captain Vincent Lecavalier scored two goals and helped the Lightning earn their first win under interim head coach Rick Tocchet, who took over for the fired Barry Melrose on November 14.
The Lightning, who have scored a league-low 43 goals, netted four for the first time since a 5-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres on October 30.
The top overall pick in this past Junes draft, Steven Stamkos set up two goals, giving him three points in his last two games after an eight-game drought.
One of the major changes many believed Tocchet would bring to the team is an increase in Stamkos ice time. However, after two straight games with 15-plus minutes under Tocchet, Stamkos logged just 11 minutes, 58 seconds of ice time on Friday.