(Sports Network) - New Jersey has lost six of its last eight games and both star goaltender Martin Brodeur and captain Jamie Langenbrunner are hurt. Sounds like a perfect time for a trip to St. Louis.
The struggling Devils hope to extend some recent dominance at the Scottrade Center tonight as they seek their fifth straight road win over the Blues.
New Jersey has lost two straight and four of its last five games following Thursday's 3-1 setback in Toronto. The Devils are winless on a three-game road trip that ends tonight and are 4-7-0 as the guest this year.
While the Devils are heading to St. Louis, Brodeur returned to New Jersey after aggravating a bruised right elbow ailment originally suffered on Nov. 3 that forced him to miss two games. Brodeur made 18 saves before exiting Thursday's game and seems unlikely to play tonight after New Jersey recalled netminder Mike McKenna on Friday.
Langenbrunner missed his third straight game with an upper-body injury and is also doubtful for tonight.
Dainius Zubrus netted the only goal for the Devils, while Jonas Hedberg yielded one goal on seven third-period shots. Hedberg is 5-2-0 with a 1.96 goals-against average lifetime versus the Blues.
"We're all disappointed," said Ilya Kovalchuk, whose club is just 1-for-36 on the power play on the road this year. "We can't keep starting games like we have been. We're just sitting back, waiting, waiting. We just don't want to get scored on, that's our mentality and I think that's wrong. We need to change something."
The Devils, though, haven't lost in St. Louis since a 4-3 overtime defeat on Jan. 25, 2001. Their last regulation loss in the Gateway City came back on Oct. 23, 1999.
New Jersey has won six of its last eight meetings with the Blues overall.
St. Louis goes for consecutive wins tonight after snapping a five-game slide last night with a 5-2 victory over Ottawa. Andy McDonald posted the 150th goal of his career and Brad Boyes, Carlo Colaiacovo and Eric Brewer all scored within an 86-second span in the second period.
"Got those three goals, and [we] didn't pull back at all," Boyes said after scoring in a fourth straight game. "We kept going at them, kept forcing them, still worked to get the next one, and we did, which is important for us."
Ty Conklin made 18 saves for the Blues, who improved to 7-0-1 at home this season.
With Conklin getting the start last night, Jaroslav Halak could return to the net for this contest. Halak has allowed 19 goals over a four-start losing streak and is 1-3-1 with a 2.55 GAA in his career versus the Devils.