dainius-zubrus-mulhollandjpg-7de7cdb1bf0ef969.jpg

Devils forward Dainius Zubrus slams into the glass during Sunday's game in Yankee Stadium.

(Ed Mulholland/USA Today)

ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- Devils forward Dainius Zubrus suffered a broken nose during the first period of Sunday's game against the Rangers in Yankee Stadium.

The hard-hitting veteran nevertheless will play in Tuesday night's game against the St. Louis Blues at Scottrade Center.

"In the first period I tried to shoot the puck and I think it was (Brian) Boyle was behind me and then (Ryan) McDogh came in from the front and I got sandwiched," Zubrus said. "Boyle kind of pushed me forward. With him finishing his check, my shield went into my face."

It was his shield and not a stick that broke his nose, yet Zubrus continued.

"At first I didn't know," he said, still sporting a painful-looking reddened and swollen face two days later. "Once it started bleeding pretty good on the bench I just grabbed a towel. That's why I think nobody knew about it. Between periods I covered my face with a towel.

"After the period our doctor said, 'It's not going to feel good for a few seconds.' He put it back and you could hear clicking and grinding. For the second period I put that whole Ninja thing on. It was bleeding. I didn't want people to see it. I had cotton things in my nose the rest of the game, which I had to change every couple of minutes. Not much fun."

Zubrus has significant swelling on both sides of his nose and black and blue marks under both eyes. He is also sporting a nasty cut across his nose, but said he can breath well enough.

"It was kind of a two- or three-man collision," Devils coach Pete DeBoer said. "I wasn't sure if it was a stick or a shoulder, but someone got him in the face.

"I actually have a funny story in the training room. The Yankee trainer was watching them reset his nose with all the blood and couldn't believe he was going back out to play. Not that baseball players aren't tough, but I don't think they see a lot of that."

It was the second time in his life that Zubrus has had his nose broken and the first time from hockey.

"I had one other broken nose and it wasn't from hockey," he recalled. "It was from getting punched in the street in Ukraine. I was 16 maybe. The only time I broke my nose before that was not on the ice."

* * *

Devils winger Jaromir Jagr said Jacob Josefson played extremely well when he stepped in to play on the first line Sunday.

"I thought he was one of the best players on the ice," Jagr said. "He didn't have that much ice time but every time he was on the ice he created plays. We didn't play very much, our whole line.

"Hopefully he can get better and better every game. He's a good player. People don't give him enough credit. He's a lot better than people think. He can make the plays offensively. Trust me, I could see it right away from the first practice."

Josefson will again be at left wing with Travis Zajac and Jagr Tuesday night against the Blues. Jagr hopes the lines stays together.

"I hope so. I'm going to do the maximum to keep it that way," Jagr said. "We have to score goals. That's the bottom line. It's not an easy stretch for him. He played one game outside and (now) three tough games on the road."

DeBoer said it is up to Josefson to seize this opportunity, regardless of how rusty be may be from not playing much prior to Sunday or how tough the schedule may be.

The coach dismissed the fact that Josefson hadn't played in 14 straight games (as well as 17 of 18) and was coming into a high-profile situation on national TV with the Stadium Series game.

"I thought he played hard. He played his game," DeBoer said. "You're an NHL player. You get paid to step in and make the most of your opportunity. I think there are a lot of guys in the league who would give their left arm to step in and play on Jaromir Jagr and Travis Zajac's wing. I don't have a lot of sympathy for that.

"I look at more of it as an opportunity for a young guy to seize a job."

* * *

The Devils beat the Blues, 7-1, in New Jersey a week ago.

"They're one of the best teams in the league. They're going to be very desperate, very hungry," DeBoer predicted. "They're very good here at home. Obviously they don't have a very good taste in their mouth after we beat them in our rink last week, so we know we're going to get their best game and we have to bring ours."

* * *

Stephen Gionta, who was hit in the throat by a Mats Zuccarello cross-ice pass on Sunday, said there were no further issues other than his throat being sore and a small cut on his chin.

What was it like getting hit in the face with a puck in such cold temperatures?

"You get hit anywhere in the face and it's going to hurt, whether it's warm or cold," Gionta said.