The coach’s hopes failed to materialize, but Devils’ forward Rob Niedermayer is believed to be on the verge of returning from what The Post has learned is a shoulder separation.
Neither Niedermayer nor any of the other injured Devils rejoined the team for practice yesterday, after Jacques Lemaire said Monday that one or two of his ailing army might. So the Devils will remain a patchwork squad when they open this stand of 10-of-12 at home, trying to snap a three-game losing streak tonight against the Senators in Newark.
Niedermayer was a sparkling surprise of a season-starting signing before suffering the shoulder separation (still listed as an upper-body injury) on Nov. 4. He was essentially the second-line center, a spot Patrik Elias has returned from surgery to fill during Niedermayer’s absence.
Unlikely to join the lineup this week, Niedermayer could start practicing with the team at its morning skate today, or more likely, in a Thanksgiving Day practice before the Devils visit Boston at noon Friday and play host to the Islanders at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Devils also remain without Jay Pandolfo (shoulder dislocation), Paul Martin (broken arm), Johnny Oduya (groin/hip) and Dainius Zubrus (cracked kneecap).
Elias has had five assists in his last three games, lately centering Jamie Langenbrunner and Brian Rolston. He missed much of Lemaire’s strategy instructions during training camp and the early season, but said he feels comfortable. He said yesterday he doesn’t think the Devils deliberately try to clear the zone with a hard outlet for forwards at the offensive blue line to touch to the far end, legal icing.
“I don’t think we try to do that. I don’t like it, either,” Elias said. “Jacques wants us to control it if we can.
“It’s the same kind of thing we used last year, except that Jacques wants us to control it and wait for support.”
Elias, Langenbrunner and Rolston have given the Devils yet another dose of two-line offense, with the trio of Travis Zajac, Zach Parise and mostly Niclas Bergfors doing its part.
Parise leads the team with 13 goals and 27 points, with Zajac and David Clarkson tied for second with seven goals, and Zajac second with 20 points. Parise’s six-game goal streak ended in Dallas Saturday, but he brings a seven-game point streak into tonight’s game.
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Martin Brodeur’s “resting,” as the silly Devils put it Monday, was actually attending the birth of son Maxime Phillippe, his fourth son and fifth child. . . . Lemaire had rookie defenseman Tyler Eckford playing wing in practice yesterday and fellow rook Matt Corrente back on defense, after playing wing. . . . The Sens are without goalie Pascal Leclaire for four weeks with a broken cheekbone, leaving the top role to backup Brian Elliott. The Devils beat Leclaire 3-2 in Ottawa Nov. 7.