The set-up: the 12-10-6 New Jersey Devils take on the 16-10-4 St. Louis Blues on Thursday night. The Devils haven't played since Sunday (a 5-0 loss o the Rangers) but limp into this contest having lost three in a row by the combined score of 14-3. The Blues return home off an unproductive four-game trip (1-3-0) but home has been ‘sweet' to St. Louis so far, as the Blues are 12-1-3 at Scottrade Center.

New Jersey: Goaltender Cory Schneider did not have a goals-against average above 2.26 in any of his first three seasons with New Jersey but it ballooned to 2.83 after he surrendered at least three goals for the eighth time in his last nine games. "He's competitive, trying to make the saves he can," head coach John Hynes said. "Like everything in our game right now, we all have to do a better job." The Devils are wobbling during a rugged stretch in which they are playing nine of 11 away from home. New Jersey is 4-9-4 on the road this season.

St. Louis: The Blues are thrilled to be home, as they saw their four-game trip end with a thud on Tuesday night when they gave up four goals in the third period, part of a string of six unanswered goals, in a 6-3 loss at Nashville in a game they once led 3-0. Head coach Ken Hitchcock was upset not only about the latest loss but about defeats earlier in the trip against the Islanders and Wild. The Blues were tied 2-2 after the second period against the Islanders before losing 3-2; they trailed the Wild by a goal, 2-1, going to the third period but lost 3-1. "That's three games where the game's been taken from us in the third period. Same thing in New York, same thing in Minnesota," lamented Hitchcock.

The pick: It's pretty simple, really. The Devils are 8-1-2 on home ice but 4-9-4 on the road. Meanwhile, the Blues may be just 4-9-1 on the road but are 12-1-3 here at home. St. Louis is an 8* play.