New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur is no longer day-to-day with a sore back. According to Devils coach Pete DeBoer, it’s more like...just more.
“I wouldn’t classify it as day-to-day,” DeBoer said today, per the Star-Ledger. “I mean he’s not going to play Thursday. I don’t mean it’s going to be a month. Sometime in between day-to-day and a month.”
Brodeur, 40, hasn’t played since Feb. 21. And unfortunately for the Devils, 39-year-old backup Johan Hedberg has struggled badly in the starter’s absence.
After a 9-2-3 start, New Jersey has fallen to 10-8-5 and is in danger of falling out of a playoff spot.
Hedberg is expected to start Thursday’s home game versus Buffalo. In the meantime, the Devils have called up goalie Jeff Frazee from AHL Albany and sent down Keith Kinkaid.
“Probably to get Kinkaid some starts,” said DeBoer when asked why general manager Lou Lamoriello made the move.
Not all the Devils’ problems can be blamed on goaltending. The team’s offense has dried up, amassing just 16 goals in its last nine games.
But it’s hard to keep fighting the good fight when the guy between the pipes surrenders three goals on 11 shots, like Hedberg did in last night’s 5-2 loss to Tampa Bay.
The Devils also assigned forward Cam Janssen to Albany and picked up forward Tom Kostopoulos off waivers from Pittsburgh.
The Penguins just signed Kostopoulos yesterday.