Blues at Devils
The New Jersey Devils look to complete a perfect three-game homestand when the St. Louis Blues pay a visit to the Prudential Center on Tuesday. The contest will serve as the opener of a home-and-home series with St. Louis, which hosts New Jersey on Thursday. The Devils will look for a strong start versus the Blues after rallying from third-period deficits in both their 2-1 shootout victory over Winnipeg on Thursday and a 3-2 win against Columbus two nights later.
Cory Schneider, who will make his 12th consecutive start on Tuesday, needs to keep a keen eye on Vladimir Tarasenko. The NHL's First Star of the Week, Tarasenko scored a highlight-reel goal in the second period before ending the shootout in the third round as visiting St. Louis recorded its fifth consecutive victory with a 4-3 triumph over the New York Rangers on Monday. The 22-year-old Russian has scored six goals and set up two others in his last four games.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN
ABOUT THE BLUES (7-3-1): Patrik Berglund and defenseman Jay Bouwmeester ended a pair of lengthy scoring droughts on Monday, as the former scored for the first time in 24 games (March 15 at Nashville) while the latter netted his first in 45 contests (Jan. 20 at Detroit). With Brian Elliott playing on Monday, Jake Allen is expected to make his fourth start - and first since stopping all 24 shots he faced in St. Louis's 2-0 victory over Anaheim on Thursday. Paul Stastny missed his seventh straight contest due to a shoulder injury but was able to participate in contact drills on Monday morning.
ABOUT THE DEVILS (6-3-2): New Jersey's special teams reside at both ends of the spectrum as its power play has clicked at an impressive 26.3-percent rate while its penalty kill sits at a disastrous 68.8-percent efficiency. "The one thing is specialty teams can't cost you games, and I think our power play has offset our PK, and if we can keep our power play there and get our penalty killing where we feel it should be – it should be having a positive effect most nights," coach Peter DeBoer told the Bergen (N.J.) Record.
OVERTIME
1. New Jersey LW Mike Cammalleri has missed three games with an injured jaw, but general manager Lou Lamoriello expects him to begin skating soon.
2. St. Louis has yielded nine power-play goals in its last eight contests.
3. The Devils recalled Steve Bernier from Albany on Monday and sent fellow F Reid Boucher to the American Hockey League club.