(SportsNetwork. Wholesale Bruins Jerseys .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 didnt 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. Were concerned about it (spreading), its a disease thats going throughout the league, said Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford on Sunday. You just dont know how far it can spread. Were 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 Saturdays 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 Tampas 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 couldnt notch the equalizer, however, and the Caps sealed the win with Eric Fehrs 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. Stitched Bruins Jerseys .com) - Nino Williams posted 18 points and seven rebounds, as Kansas State edged No. Cheap Bruins Jerseys . Colorado came up big against Chicago last spring, and repeated that performance Tuesday night. Varlamov stopped 36 shots and Paul Stastny had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche in a 5-1 victory over the Blackhawks. https://www.cheapbruins.com/ .com) - The Denver Nuggets snapped a losing streak last time out and will try to carry that momentum Saturday night when they welcome the Indiana Pacers to the Pepsi Center.OTTAWA -- A week ago it was unthinkable, but the Ottawa Senators are back in playoff contention. Ales Hemsky scored the only goal of the shootout Monday night as the Senators earned a huge 2-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Hemsky moved in and fired a shot off the post and into the back of the net behind goaltender Cam Ward to give the Senators their third straight win, and fourth in their past fifth games. They have nine points over that stretch. As it stands now, the Senators are in 12th in the Eastern Conference four points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets, who currently possess the second wild-card berth with 82 points. The Hurricanes are seven back. "All Im doing is going game-by-game still. We won today, now we have to get ready for Wednesday and again well see where we are at (in) 82 games," said Senators coach Paul MacLean. Craig Anderson stopped all three Carolina shooters, including Elias Lindholm with the final shot to earn the victory. Mika Zibanejad scored in regulation for the Senators (32-29-14) while Anderson made 30 saves. Jeff Skinner had the Carolina goal while Ward backstopped the Hurricanes (32-32-11) through regulation with 28 saves. Coincidental minor penalties in overtime meant the teams played two minutes of three-on-three hockey. Kyle Turris had the best opportunity for the Senators during that span but his shot went over the net. Alex Semin had Anderson beat on a two-on-one but his backhand went wide. "Structure wise we werent really sure what to do, but you need guys that are creative and are able to beat guys one-on-one because thats what it comes down to," Senators defenceman Marc Methot said of the rare three-on-three. "The guys handled it well." There was very little in the way of scoring opportunities through most of the third period. That changed in the final few minutes as both teams started to apply pressure as neither wanted the other to claim a bonus point in the tight playoff race. "There were definitely opportunities and a little spark at the end. The fans started getting into it knowing the pressure of the last five minutes and that any mistake could be in the back of the net," said Hurricanes forward Jordan Staal. "It raised the intensity of the game for sure.&" The way the first period started it seemed as though the goaltenders were going to have nightmares even before they went to bed. Custom Boston Bruins Jerseys. The score was tied 1-1 before the five-minute mark and the non-defensive style was allowing for several opportunities on both sides. Zibanejad opened the scoring at 1:41 of the first period when he deflected a Patrick Wiercioch point shot past Ward. The play was reviewed but quickly announced that the call on the ice stood and it was in fact a goal. "Youve got to look at it as a lucky break on their side, and just get ready for the next shot," Ward said of the goal. "The puck was bouncing a little more than I would have liked, but other than that we gave our team a chance to win. Unfortunately, it doesnt feel good to lose in a shootout." Zibanejad continues to improve on his career-high numbers as he now has 14 goals and 29 points in 64 games. "Lately weve been taking it one game at a time. Its cliche but we are. And were doing whatever we can to make sure we get the points," said Zibanejad. "The pressure is not on us, the pressure is on the teams above us and by winning were putting more pressure on them." It wasnt all good news for the Senators though as Erik Karlsson gave the puck away behind his own goal and then was the last player to touch it before it went into the back of the Ottawa goal behind Anderson. Karlsson tried to sweep the puck around the boards behind the net but fanned on his attempt, giving skinner possession of the puck behind the goal. He danced from side-to-side before banking the puck off Karlsson and in to tie the game at the 4:03 mark. Notes- Jason Spezza, Bobby Ryan, Jared Cowen and Colin Greening were scratches for the Senators. Mike Komisarek, Radek Dvorak and Justin Peters were scratches for the HurricanesaThe Senators recalled Jean-Gabriel Pageau from Binghamton on MondayaSenators forward Kyle Turris was named the NHLs First Star of the Week Monday after collecting four goals and three assists in four gamesaJeff Skinner now has points in five straight games and recorded his 30th goal of the season MondayaThe Carolina Hurricanes are scheduled to play back-to-back games 20 times this season, second only to the ' ' '