Blues' Brodeur set for home debut against Panthers

(SportsNetwork.com) - Martin Brodeur is expected to make his home debut for the St. Louis Blues on Monday night as they take on the Florida Panthers.

They may want to start up a collection at the door in case Brodeur picks up another victory.

Recently signed following an injury to Brian Elliott, the 42-year-old lost his first start with the Blues on Thursday, giving up four goals on 24 shots faced. He then relieved Jake Allen on Saturday in a matchup with the New York Islanders and stopped 14-of-15 shots faced as St. Louis rallied for a 6-4 win.

It marked the 689th win of Brodeur's career and the first he has recorded with a team other than the New Jersey Devils.

Brodeur's one-year contract with the Blues is worth only $700,000, but the deal does have a clause in which he gets an extra $10,000 for each point in the standings St. Louis records with him in net.

That could end up getting costly if Allen struggles, not that St. Louis would mind paying it.

"I got a call from (Blues general manager Doug Armstrong). We're broke. We're down $20 grand. He was wondering if I could've pulled him sometime in the third," joked Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock after the win over the Islanders.

Allen gave up three goals on 12 shots in the first period, but the Blues rallied for three goals in the third frame to snap a two-game slide and split a four-game road trip.

T.J. Oshie started the scoring in the third period, Paul Stastny followed with his second goal of the game and Vladimir Tarasenko potted his 17th marker of the campaign.

Kevin Shattenkirk added a goal and two assists, while Joakim Lindstrom notched three helpers.

St. Louis played without forward Alex Steen due to a lower-body injury and lost defenseman Carl Gunnarsson to an upper-body injury following a high hit from New York's Anders Lee.

The Blues have won four in a row over the Panthers and Brodeur is 40-16-2 against them in his career with a 2.06 goals against average, .914 save percentage and six shutouts.

The Panthers open up a three-game road trip following a 3-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. Roberto Luongo made 26 saves and Nick Bjugstad had the game-winning goal to improve Florida to 4-1-1 in its last six games.

"We needed this one. It was the last game before a big road trip," said Luongo. "You always want to end on a good night. I thought the boys played well tonight, especially in the third period."

Brad Boyes and Tomas Kopecky also scored, with Kopecky snapping a 36-game drought without a goal.

"I'm so happy it's over," said Kopecky. "I've just got to play my game. Sometimes it's frustrating when things aren't going your way and you're not getting the bounces, but you've got to be patient and stick with it."

Defenseman Aaron Ekblad added three assists for his first career three-point game. He is third among rookies with 17 points.

Luongo is 15-11-1 with a 2.32 GAA, .917 save percentage and three shutouts in 28 career games versus the Blues, all but one of those starts.