Season series: Goalie Jake Allen made 24 saves and the St. Louis Blues received goals from forwards Martin Havlat and Magnus Paajarvi in a 2-0 victory against the New Jersey Devils on Nov. 10. Havlat's goal was a game-winner and his only one scored in two games with the Blues.
Devils team scope: Goalie Keith Kinkaid will start for New Jersey, which plays the second of a season-long four-game road trip. Kinkaid, who is 3-4-0 with a 2.42 goals-against average and .905 save percentage, will be making his eighth start (ninth appearance) of the season. Forward Michael Cammalleri, who leads the Devils in assists (21) and points (35), has missed the past five games with an upper-body injury. He will not join the Devils in St. Louis but could rejoin them later in the trip. Defenseman Andy Greene missed practice Monday but is expected to play. Defenseman John Moore, who has missed two games with a lower-body injury, skated on his own Monday after practice but will not play. The Devils have lost four in a row to the Blues and three straight at St. Louis.
Blues team scope: St. Louis will be without Allen (lower body), defensemen Jay Bouwmeester (upper body) and Carl Gunnarsson (upper body), and forward Magnus Paajarvi (upper body), but center Paul Stastny (upper body) has not been ruled out. All five players were injured either Friday at the Anaheim Ducks or Saturday at the Los Angeles Kings. Allen, Bouwmeester, Gunnarsson and Paajarvi are week-to-week; Stastny is officially day-to-day with the potential to be week-to-week. "We don't have any information on it yet," coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We've got partial information on all the other guys, but we don't have the firm information on Stastny yet. We'll have to wait on that." Brian Elliott will assume the role of No. 1 goalie and play Tuesday.
The beat-up St. Louis Blues have been working long and frequent hours recently, so they might not be particularly fresh in their next game even after two days off.
The Blues have put in plenty of extra time during a four-game point streak, and they'll be looking for their first back-to-back wins of the new year when they face the similarly banged-up New Jersey Devils to open a four-game homestand.
St. Louis (24-14-7) stopped a five-game skid with a 2-1 shootout victory over Los Angeles on Saturday. Alex Pietrangelo tied it in the second period and Troy Brouwer got the deciding goal in the seventh round of the tiebreaker for the Blues, who have gone to two straight shootouts after dropping their previous two games in overtime.
Their just-completed three-game trip took place over four nights.
"It's four games in a row now that we have really dug in," coach Ken Hitchcock told the team's official website. "You get into overtime or extra time and you are going to win some and lose some. We now have played really well for four or five games in a row. We just have to keep it going."
St. Louis won without center Paul Stastny and defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, both of whom suffered upper-body injuries in a 4-3 shootout loss to Anaheim on Friday.
"We've put a lot of work in and a lot of effort in," center David Backes said. "Now we've found that second point and it feels like a good reward for a great effort against a team that was rested and really came at us hard. We responded really well."
Hitchcock announced that Stastny is day to day, while Bouwmeester, along with Carl Gunnarsson and Magnus Paajarvi with the same injury, are week to week.
St. Louis will be trying to avoid a third consecutive home defeat by beating New Jersey for the third straight time at Scottrade Center. The Blues won 4-3 in the most recent such meeting Nov. 6, 2014.
They took the first matchup this season 2-0 on Nov. 10 behind 24 saves from Jake Allen, who's been put on injured reserve after leaving the Ducks game with a knee injury. Brian Elliott, expected to start for the second straight time after making 26 saves against the Kings, has a 1.96 goals-against average in his last nine games.
The Devils (21-17-5) beat Minnesota 2-1 on Sunday to snap a three-game skid. Defenseman Jon Merrill scored his first goal in 82 games for the third-period winner and Adam Henrique got his 15th of the season for New Jersey, which opened a four-game trip.
New Jersey's goal total against the Wild matched that of its previous three games. The club's 2.21 goals per contest is second to last in the league.
The Devils have also been hit hard by injuries. Leading scorer Mike Cammalleri has missed five straight games, the club is also without Patrik Elias, and Jiri Tlusty was placed on injured reserve this week.
Four players in Sunday's lineup had played a combined six NHL games this season as promoted reinforcements.
"This is the time where you need guys to step up," Henrique said. "There's a lot of opportunity for guys coming in the lineup and getting more of a chance to play. We need guys to take advantage of that."
Cory Schneider, 3-3-0 in his last six starts despite a 1.68 GAA, is expected to be in net for New Jersey. He's 3-4-1 with a 1.93 mark in nine career matchups with the Blues after making 26 saves Nov. 10.
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We're due a good win. The devils seem like a pretty easy target. Plus, this team always seems to pull together when injuries occur. Elliot puts on a clinic for the other net minder.
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We now have played really well for four or five games in a row. We just have to keep it going."
Apparently Ken & I have a very different opinion of the meaning of "really well."
Blowing leads in game after game, single-digit shots on goal, etc. Yes, you scraped out a few points over the past few games, but putting those performances in the "really well" category is a bit of a stretch.
I'd rather see Backes on the wing with Steen and Brouwer while making Berglund play the center he was drafted to be with Upshall on his LW. It still looks like a mess, though. At least Rattie might get more then 4 minutes of ice time, finally.
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I saw that 2nd goal coming. How could The Blues not get to pucks closer to them in their own zone? They act like they are being paid to lose. In the neutral zone and offensive zone, they don't win races to the puck because they seem to always try to keep position between the opponent and their own zone (or own goal) - (e.g. they are ALWAYS playing defence first. NO WONDER they have such trouble scoring! "Normal" teams go after the puck full bore in ALL 3 zones, and WIN a lot of those races, and have more puck control in the offensive zone as a result, and score more goals. They may also give up a few more goals as a result. But, they score more additional goals with that strategy than they give up. I think The Blues need a new coach, as I understand The Blues' forwards' problems with Hitch's system.
The Blues need to decide to take the play to the other team, instead of playing conservative with defence in mind, EVEN in the offensive zone. They should be destroying this weak Devils team, especially at home.
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Rattie tips in Shatty's wrister!!! His 1st NHL goal!!! Challenge for goaltender interference. The goalie pushed out-initiating it. Should be a goodgoal. It IS!!! Blues lead 4-2!!!
