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Devils defenseman Mark Fayne has changed his pregame diet in an effort to change the team's luck.

(Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-Ledger)

Martin Brodeur has made several attempts to change the Devils’ luck.

He’s worn a different watch to every game, which hasn’t worked. And he’s enlisted his daughter, Anabelle, to choose a winning tie.

"Last year every time my daughter was home she’d pick my tie for a game," Brodeur said. "So the other day she was home from school and I said, ‘You go pick my tie now.’ I think everybody has tried something. Little things like that.

"I know it sounds silly, maybe, to the common person. But an athlete knows what we’re talking about. We’re willing to try everything. I’ll play forward."

Nothing is too far-fetched right now. The Devils feel they are playing well, but they will go into Monday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre without Ilya Kovalchuk hoping to avoid tying the franchise record of 10 consecutive losses.

The record was set between Oct. 14 and Nov. 4 in 1983 and consisted of 10 regulation-time losses. The current nine-game losing streak (0-5-4) includes three shootout losses and an overtime defeat, but it’s left the Devils six points out of a playoff spot (actually seven, because they don’t have the tie-breaker with the teams ahead of them).

The Devils haven’t won since Kovalchuk hurt his right shoulder and he didn’t go to Toronto.

"He’s moving in a positive direction, but he’s not good enough to play, so we’re not going to bring him," DeBoer said.

The situation is critical.

"I tried something different last game but it didn’t work," center Travis Zajac said. "I usually never call my parents on a game day. I called my mom on a game day. She was surprised, too. She said, ‘What are you doing calling me?’ That didn’t work. I’ll try to think of something else for the Toronto game."

Defenseman Mark Fayne changed his pregame diet.

"I think guys have started changing their routines a little bit," Fayne said. "That happens when things aren’t going the right way. It’s been so many games now, there are only so many things you can do.

"I switched my meal from steak to chicken. It didn’t help. I’ve warmed up a little different. Now I think it’s just bearing down. I don’t think that stuff’s going to help us right now."

Coach Pete DeBoer instituted an unusual game at the end of practice in which the nets were put on each side of the center ice Prudential Center/Devils logo circle. They played a three-against-three game in which lots of goals were scored.

"We did a little goal-scoring game at the end to try and loosen it up," DeBoer said. "Confidence and mind-set is the critical part right now. I’ve said all along you can’t drag what happened yesterday or last week into today. We have another opportunity to start a winning streak (tonight)."

Aside from the power play, which is 1-for-23 over the last six games, the Devils are scratching their heads.

"It feels like we’re giving it all we’ve got," Zajac said. "At least that’s how I feel. For whatever reason it’s just not enough."

David Clarkson tried to change the team’s luck, as well as his own.

"I’ve tried everything, from green tape to not going onto the ice first or coming off last," Clarkson said. "I would like the puck to be going in like it was early in the season, but I’m still getting tons of chances, so I’m not going to change my game.

"We've been snakebit. I've never seen anything like this. It's tough to watch."



Notes: Backup goalie Johan Hedberg practices for the first time since Tuesday and said he had a groin problem. He made the trip and rookie Keith Kinkaid was headed back to Albany (AHL).

Kovalchuk skated on his own yesterday morning but did not practice with the team.

Captain Bryce Salvador (bruised right wrist) will miss his second game since being struck by a Zdeno Chara shot.