GDT #54: Blues vs Devils | 8:00 pm CT | ESPN, 101 ESPN

[theohall]

The New Jersey Devils have been one of the NHL's hottest teams since shortly after the Christmas break and they hope to stay that way.

They earned points in 16 of 18 games heading into Thursday's contest against the Blues at Enterprise Center in St. Louis. The Devils went 13-2-3 during that span to move within three points of the Metropolitan Division-leading Carolina Hurricanes.

"Every point matters and we're in it," Devils forward Erik Haula after the team's Wednesday practice. "I've talked about building our game all year and now we're getting to that point where it's going to be vital that we have consistency in our game so when we do get in those big games, we feel comfortable and trust our game."

The Devils are coming off a 3-2 victory at Columbus on a last-second goal by Ryan Graves. Seven of New Jersey's previous nine games went into overtime or a shootout.

"The one thing we've done well is we've stayed in games," Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. "When games have been tight, we've been around, gotten into overtime. We've won games different ways.

The Devils, who are an NHL-leading 20-3-3 on the road this season, will be without No. 1 center Jack Hughes again. He practiced Wednesday in a non-contact sweater while recovering from his upper-body injury.

The Blues have won their first two games coming out of their extended All-Star break. They have maintained a positive vibe despite the trade that sent Vladimir Tarasenko to the New York Rangers.

The possibility of more trades are coming ahead of the March 3 NHL deadline hangs over the team as its front office looks to retool the roster.

"Just kind of playing for one another right now and playing hard," Blues forward Brayden Schenn said. "Just worrying about one game at a time. That's really all you can focus on. I know it's a cliche answer, but that's the reality and that's the position we're in and we go game by game now and try to grab two points each night."

The Blues adjusted their team defensive scheme coming out of the break and got positive early returns.

"Changed some things up and forechecking a little bit harder in different ways and stuff like that," Schenn said. "Which is, hopefully, limiting defensive zone time for us. And just kind of being more aggressive on our toes."

The Blues lost defenseman Torey Krug (lower body) and winger Brandon Saad (upper body) to injuries during Tuesday's 6-2 victory over the Florida Panthers.

After Wednesday's practice, Blues coach Craig Berube said Saad would be sidelined against the Devils while Torey Krug had a chance to play.

The Blues won their previous game against the Devils this season 5-3 on Jan. 5 in New Jersey. Robert Thomas had two goals and an assist in that game and Pavel Buchnevich had three assists.

Hughes scored twice for the Devils in that loss and No. 3 goaltender Akira Schmid took the loss.

"It's just a good team all around," Berube said of the Devils. "They've been a good team all year . . . they're a very quick team, they've got real fast forwards, they have big D, they transition the puck really well. With their speed they get a lot of odd-man rushes and they make good plays off the rush."

[glen a richter]

For what it's worth, 12-4 without Tarasenko in the lineup, 3-0 specifically post-trade. Was he the entire problem the whole time or is this a coincidence?

Still, sell. I think I trust Alexandrov or even LaFerriere or McGing to seamlessly take over for Barbashev. O'Reilly wouldn't surprise me if he re-signed in the offseason on a team friendly so no big deal getting rid of him for a month.

[theohall]

Blues went back to the 3rd man high system they used under Hitchcock and during their Cup run. Most of this season, they've been using a more aggressive forecheck style with all 3 forwards having the freedom to go wherever in the offensive zone which was exposing the defense to odd-man breaks if the forwards didn't get possession. IMO, switching to that more aggressive style was a mistake with this group of forwards. They aren't the kind that uses contact to force direction of play. Change was made over the 11 day break and not so surprisingly, the defense doesn't look near as bad when they have a forward playing a more conservative game in terms of defensive positioning while still supporting the offense. Having a 3rd man high allows the defense to pinch at the blueline without as much risk, because there is a forward available to cover when the D pinches. That defensive support from a forward has been non-existent most of this season. Per JR, Berube is responsible for the strategic change.