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Minus Crosby, Pens host Lightning

Dec 15, 2014 - 3:49 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Pittsburgh Penguins will take the ice minus their captain again on Monday when they battle the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning without the services of Sidney Crosby.

Crosby is the latest NHL player stricken with the mumps and he will miss a third straight game with the illness tonight. Although the Penguins didn't officially announce their star forward had the mumps until Sunday, he was held out of games on Friday and Saturday for what the club deemed a precautionary measure.

Pittsburgh said Crosby should be through the infectious period by Monday.

"We're concerned about it (spreading), it's a disease that's going throughout the league," said Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford on Sunday. "You just don't know how far it can spread. We're watching this on a regular basis."

Crosby has nine goals and 26 assists for 35 points in 27 games this season.

Pittsburgh got by without Crosby on Friday, downing the visiting Calgary Flames by a 3-1 score. However, the Pens dropped a 4-3 shootout decision the following night in Columbus.

The Pens, who lead the New York Islanders by two points for first in the Metropolitan Division, have earned a point in four straight games (2-0-2). They needed a goal from Kris Letang with less than 11 seconds remaining in regulation to get Saturday's contest to overtime.

Columbus would pick up the extra point, however, as Ryan Johansen was credited with the game-winner in the shootout at Nationwide Arena.

Letang tallied twice, with both of his scores coming in the third period. Before beating Sergei Bobrovsky with a slap shot with 10.9 seconds left in regulation, he notched a short-handed goal at 7:22 of the period.

"We played really well in the third period," Letang said. "We were really after them. We earned that point."

Blake Comeau also scored in the loss. Thomas Greiss stopped 24 pucks in 65 minutes of play but allowed two of three Columbus shooters to best him in the tiebreaker.

Tampa Bay hopes to take advantage of the Crosby-less Pens tonight after losing for the third time in four games Saturday evening against Washington. However, Pittsburgh has dominated the Lightning recently, taking nine straight since Tampa's last win in the series on Nov. 17, 2011.

The Pens also have claimed seven straight and nine of the past 10 encounters in the Steel City.

The Capitals downed the Lightning 4-2 behind a hat trick from Nicklas Backstrom, as Tampa dropped the opener of a five-game road trip.

The Lightning made a valiant effort to push the game to overtime, but came up short. Washington led 3-0 after Backstrom completed his hat trick just 2:17 into the third and the score remained that way until Tyler Johnson and Matt Carle each scored in the final five minutes of regulation for the Bolts.

Tampa couldn't notch the equalizer, however, and the Caps sealed the win with Eric Fehr's empty-net tally in the final minute.

Ben Bishop made 24 saves for Tampa Bay, which fell to 7-5-2 as the visiting team this season.

Despite their recent struggles, the Lightning still find themselves tied with Detroit for first place in the Atlantic Division. The Bolts can take sole possession of the top spot by gaining at least a point tonight.

With Tampa also playing tomorrow night in Philadelphia, Bishop could get a rest over the next two games. He is 0-2-0 with a 4.43 goals against average in three career games against the Penguins, while backup Evgeni Nabokov is 11-6-0 with a lifetime 2.18 GAA over 18 outings versus Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh No. 1 Marc-Andre Fleury is 15-10-3 with a 2,39 in his career against Tampa.

The Pens are 10-4-1 as the host this season, while Tampa is just 7-5-2 as the guest.