Devils May Get Game 2 Boost

New Jersey’s Scott Niedermayer, sidelined since taking an elbow to the face from Toronto’s Tie Domi, hopes to rejoin the Devils for Game 2 of their series against Pittsburgh.

Sergei Brylin, who had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee last week, also said Sunday that he expects to return for Tuesday night’s game. New Jersey defeated Pittsburgh, 3-1, on Saturday night in the opener of the Eastern Conference finals.

Domi’s hit in Game 4 of the second round left Niedermayer with a concussion and lingering symptoms that have kept him off the ice.

“I feel better than I’ve felt since it happened,” Niedermayer said of the May 3 injury. “It’s good to put a few days together where I haven’t really felt anything so, that’s what we’re looking for.”

Brylin was injured when he caught his skate in a rut along the boards on May 1.

“If everything is going to go smooth [today] in practice, I’m pretty sure I’ll play on Tuesday,” he said.

After a week-long layoff, the St. Louis Blues couldn’t do enough to counter the Colorado Avalanche in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals, losing 4-1 Saturday.

“We’ve got to bounce back and come back with a better effort [today],” defenseman Chris Pronger said. “I think we have to come out with a better defensive mind-set. We didn’t pick up loose pucks or battle for loose pucks in the corners. They came up with them and got a few good scoring chances off of them.”

St. Louis hasn’t played in the conference finals since 1986, but Coach Joel Quenneville wasn’t sure if that was a factor in his team’s poor play.

“It’s tough to measure something like that,” he said.

Of more importance, Quenneville said, was the fact that “a very short list of guys could say they were on top of their games. We weren’t in sync, and we weren’t sharp.”

The NHL fined the New Jersey Devils $25,000 for violating regulations on media availability.

During the final two rounds of the playoffs, teams are required to make their general manager, coach, captain, alternate captains and a representative number of first-string players available on a daily basis. The Devils failed to do that Sunday, a day after their 3-1 victory over Pittsburgh in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final.

Buffalo Sabre goaltender Dominik Hasek may return to the team for one more season at a reduced salary of $6 million, the Buffalo News reported, citing unidentified sources.

Hasek, 36, made $7.5 million this season, and the Sabres can extend the contract through next season for $9 million, the newspaper said. The goalie would take the pay cut because the team, which is facing $16 million in losses this season, may be reluctant to keep him at a higher price, the paper reported.

Hasek will meet with Sabres’ management within the next few weeks to discuss his future.